Duelists of the Roses: RP Transcript
by ValarSpawn
Summary: The basis for the list fic 'Ivory Petals', based on the PS2 game YuGiOh: Duelists of the Roses. It follows the overall plot of the game from the Yorkist side, with emphasis on plot and character development. The main action revolves around the interaction of Christian 'Seto' Rosenkreuz, leader of the Rose Crusaders supporting the Yorkist throne, and the Rose Duelist/PC.
1. Enter the Rose Duelist

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**A/N 1**: There will likely be a few historical inaccuracies in regards to certain people or events, for which I apologize most sincerely and wholeheartedly because as a history fan I'd prefer being as correct as possible. However, considering that the game itself is not _that_ historically accurate (I mean, wouldn't Bakura's personification in the game (Richard Cade) be dead by 1485?), it's likely going to be a very big headache simply **trying** to make it accurate. There's also the fact this varies from the game a little in that the protagonist wasn't summoned from the future but is an actual person living in the same time period.

**A/N 2**: As this is a transcript of an rp and not a fic, the pacing will probably come off as somewhat disjointed. Unfortunately, there are parts glossed over (like the duels) in favor of characterization and development between the main characters. However, I will also include notes on some of the stuff that happens here.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz, Simon McMooran  
Location: Skype**

* * *

The watcher rose from their seat on the partially crumbled dolmen as the pillar of blue light appeared in the heart of the rose-adorned ground. The light was endless, reaching high into the firmament. It would be an excellent beacon if that were its purpose, easily glimpsed for miles around. However, the watcher knew that wasn't the case. "It is time." They muttered as they went to retrieve their traveling gear and arms, ensuring everything was in place before striding towards the pillar of light. The watcher stopped just a few inches shy of it, breathing in deeply before stepping through and vanishing into the light.

Seconds later, the watcher stepped out of the pillar, finding that it lead out to a stone circle surrounded by a circle of standing stones. Some were lone pillars, others had been arranged into what seemed like a gateway and others simply lay on the ground on their sides. The place could only be Stonehenge, the heathen worship site down in Salisbury, England. But that was not what interested the newcomer; rather, it was the two figures that had apparently been waiting for them.

The first is dressed in the robes of a druid and their face hidden by a cowl; that mattered little to the newcomer, whose own visage is concealed by a hooded cloak and muffler. Quite possibly it had been this figure who initiated the magical ritual. The second figure was completely unlike the first, more striking and memorable. By contrast, he was young and clad in plate mail that had been molded and forged to resemble a winged white dragon curling about his body. The newcomer's gaze lingered on the last a bit longer before taking a step further and reaching up to pull down the muffler. "Someone called?"

Those with an ear for minute details would have noticed something odd about the person's voice, as though they were forcing themselves to talk on a lower register.

With a glare at Simon, Seto gestured for him to go first.

Simon glared back at his enemy then stepped forward to introduce himself. "I am Simon McMooran, a High Druid from Scotland and loyal servant to House Lancaster. I've summoned you on behalf of Lady Margaret Beaufort, who seeks your aid against the dastardly Yorkists-" Here he flashed another glare at the armored knight. "Confound them all! Keeping House Lancaster from their rightful place on the English Throne with their accursed White Rose Cards!" At this, the hooded stranger glanced towards the armored knight again, seeing him in a new light.

"If you're done," The knight said, noting the pause in Simon's diatribe, "I am Christian 'Seto' Rosenkreuz. Head of the Rose Crusaders. And I would apologize for interrupting your life with such squabbles that don't concern you, but then I wasn't the one who summoned you here. Now that you've been... abducted from your home, I would ask only to help send you from whence you came. Simply give me the Red Rose Cards that Simon used to summon you here."

"Foolish fool! You think I'd keep them on me after the summoning!?" Simon cut in at that point, not even giving the Rose Duelist a chance to respond. "They were dispersed throughout England and France, sent to our best Duelists so that they never fall into your evil hands, Rosenkreuz!"

Seto gave Simon a look of annoyance, but not one of rage. "Do keep a civil tongue in your mouth old man." He turned his attention to the one who had been summoned. "It seems you're stuck in this conflict thanks to the machinations of this old man and his masters. I at least offer you the choice of joining my Rose Crusaders. I can assure you that we are in a better position to offer you compensation for your hardships."

The Rose Duelist folded his arms. "I'm not sure either of you can give me what I seek." The response was brief, and they seemed to be waiting on a response from either party.

Seto shrugged. "I never claimed I could. I just ask you study your options. Who really would you wish to work for?"

"That depends: would they be willing to give me the Rose Cards if I lend them my services?"

"You...You ask too much! They are the right-"

"The rightful possession of neither party. It is my duty to retrieve them, and take them back to their resting place."

"If you can retrieve them from the Lancasters," Christian shrugged. "You may have ours as well."

"Hmm...Considering that there's eight of each color, simple arithmetic dictates I can join-" The Rose Duelist paused as the rose emblems on the stone circle caught their attention. The crimson tinted emblem seemed to blaze brightly while the white was significantly dulled and faded. "Odd. The gods usually don't care about the process, only the results... Clearly, one of them has some grievance against the Yorkists."

Simon tried to win the Rose Duelist over again. "See? Fate itself has decreed that you _must_ join us! You will be key in our victory, Rose Duelist!" His fervor bordered on the fanatical, which actually made the figure in question step back from the druid, as though perturbed by his words.

"So be it. Making yourself the enemy of the Yorkists will not make it any easier for you to collect the cards from us."

The Rose Duelist held up a hand. "I never made my decision. I was simply noting what someone _else_ wanted." Pointedly, the black hooded figure ground their booted foot on the Red Rose emblem. "I prefer taking my own path. Ser Rosenkreuz, consider me yours to command."

"I am honored by your choice. I hope we can work together for our mutual benefit." Christian said with a bow.

Simon's eyes narrowed beneath his cowl and he glanced down towards the Rose Duelist's feet. "You've drawn down the wrath of the gods upon you with your actions." He intoned warningly.

The agent of fate shrugged nonchalantly. "I am fully aware and will deal with it in time. Our business is done, High Druid."

"Hmph. So it is." There was a brief muttering of Gaelic before the High Druid vanished in a flurry of winds, leaving Christian alone with the Rose Duelist in the stone ring.

"We had best hurry." Seto said, setting off for his horse. "There are still a few Lancasters in England who would likely have the cards. We could catch them before they escape across the strait."

"Understood." Not having brought a horse of their own, the Rose Duelist began to walk, momentarily halting in their tracks as a wince grew on their lips. Just as quickly as it appeared however, the wince was gone, and they replaced the muffler back over their mouth again before walking over to Christian. "Would it be alright if I rode behind you? I have no horse."

"It will help us make better time, certainly." Seto agreed. "When we can I'll see about getting you a mount of your own."

"That would be appreciated. Many thanks." Pause. "Alain de France. I look forward to working with you, Ser Rosenkreuz."

"A pleasure to meet you Alain de France." Seto gave a polite bow and gesture before resuming his march down the hill. "The horse awaits."

The Rose Duelist followed after him, easily keeping up with his long strides despite being some inches shorter than him, showing they were used to such a lifestyle, though the gear on them seemed to imply a line of work more clandestine than his own. One geared towards stealth and intrigue, and not combat on the battlefield.

He didn't seem to notice, or rather he didn't seem to care, about the gear worn by the Rose Duelist. Instead he simply gestured to his attendants who were waiting with his own gear and mounted, offering a hand. "We have the Rose Duelist on our side. Let the word spread."

All of them shared a nod before mounting their horses and taking off in various directions to carry out his orders. In the meantime, the Rose Duelist had already mounted his pristine white charger and was waiting for him, though Erzengel seemed to have doubts about this new rider and was trying to reach back to bite at the newcomer.

"Let's go." Seto said and they headed towards the first duel... "I assume you know the rules you must use to win the cards from them, right?"

"I have experience in dueling, yes." Of course, it went without saying that it would be a long ride from Salisbury to Windsor, and much could happen along the way.

Christian just nodded, and seemed content not the press the matter as they travelled.

Some time later, their luck turned for the worst when they rode into an ambush, and warriors of the light armored variety sprang out from their hiding places to attack. There were at least 10, with four of their numbers being archers while the rest specialized in close combat. From their colors, they were obviously soldiers in service to House Lancaster and had caught them by surprise with a volley of arrows. One of the arrows was able to punch through one of the weaker parts in Alain's chainmail shirt under his tunic, causing the Rose Duelist to let out a cry of pain as he fell off the horse under the force of the blow. Fortunately, they were back on their feet again, pulling out several throwing knives and tossing them expertly at several targets, hitting each and causing either a serious injury or fatal blow.

Christian was off his horse immediately, shouting curses at the soldiers and summoning a lesser beast to deal with them and counter attack.

The Rose Duelist took a moment to check their injury, figuring it would be best dealt with later before going back to the fight and calling upon a beast of their own to aid them: a blue Winged Guardian of the Fortress, which proceeded to swoop down on the archers, lift them up to great heights and drop them to their deaths or burn them with its fiery breath.

Despite taking wounds, the two duelists managed to route the ambush with relative ease, clearing off the Lancastrian forces with flying beasts of legend.

Alain dismissed his Winged Guardian of the Fortress and sheathed his sword before starting to walk about to retrieve the throwing knives. "You fight well."

Seto nodded with a snort, as if that statement was obvious. "Are you hurt?"

"Nothing I can't handle." The Rose Duelist replied after recovering the knives and putting them back in their belt, then moving to lean against a tree so they could try to yank out the arrow.

He gave a suspicious look. "Are you certain? I'd prefer not to risk the life of the fabled Rose Duelist on a mere infected scratch."

There was no response save a snapping of wood. "Well...I did get hit with an arrow from the first volley." The sound, of course, had been from them snapping the arrow shaft in half.

"Then I should see it." Seto noted.

Almost imperceptibly, the Rose Duelist stiffened. "...Very well. But we should get off the road for this." As he spoke, the voice wavered, and for a moment something seemed _off_...but it could have simply been the pain of having an arrow on your side.

"Agreed." Seto pulled the horse to the side of the road where they could make an impromptu camp for bandaging their wounds.

Between the two of them they worked quickly to make the camp and finally, the Rose Duelist sat down on a rock, moving the hooded cloak back to show him the injury: half an arrow shaft embedded firmly into their side, having punched right through the cloth and chainmail.

"Let me have a look at that." Christian said, putting his hand on her side. "Is this the only place you're hurt?" (*)

"I have some bruises but they will heal. This is the only serious injury." There was also the matter of what she suspected was the Divine-inflicted stigmata on her feet but there was nothing she could do about that if her suspicions were true.

"Alright, let's get the shaft out of you. You look to have been penetrated good..." He muttered, testing to find the method that would cause the least additional damage while pulling(or pushing) the arrow head out.

The Rose Duelist nodded, leaning her head back and causing the hood to slide back a bit, revealing somewhat effeminate features and gray eyes which locked on to his own as she nodded, giving him the cue to pull it out.

With a careful, but swift, motion he removed the arrow and immediately put pressure on the wound to keep it from bleeding. "You are among friends here. At the very least it's only I. You don't need to shroud your face."

"...I suppose you are right. Right now, you might well be the only person I can trust on this island." She said as she began to unwind the muffler from around her neck and face. The Rose Duelist's voice was not the low voice that she had used at their meeting. It was still leaning towards the deeper end of the pitch spectrum but it was clearly not masculine.

"And you could explain why you hid your gender." Seto noted after tying the bandage down. He took a moment to study his own body. He had his own injuries to deal with.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to broadcast my gender." She said before pulling down her hood, revealing violet-fuchsia hair with black gradients pulled back into a braid that had been pinned down to her skull with hairpins. "Do you need help?" Alaine inquired, glancing over his injuries.

"I don't believe that Simon would have cared who he used to his ends, and I find no issue with your fair sex." Though he couldn't speak for all of his Rose Crusaders... several of them would scoff at this revelation. "I don't think I need help, but if you're offering, place pressure here." He indicated one of his cuts he was trying to bandage.

She nodded and went over to him, placing her palm over a bloodstained section on the left leg of his trousers and pressing down to stem the blood flow.

Fortunately his wound was not particularly dangerous, and the bandages were easy enough to apply. "I fear this might have slowed us down in our quest however."

"I do have some knowledge of healing magic...I could use it to speed up the healing, if you like."

"I'd rather we use it to speed our chase to reclaim your cards." Christian replied. "Or to keep us safe from further ambushes, though I can do that much myself, had I thought of it. Does no one in this war fight with any honor?"

"As you wish." She replied as she helped him stow away the medical kit and handed him his sheathed sword, hilt first. "Those men back there seemed desperate to stop us...When in such straits, little thought is given to honor."

"Desperation is where true honor is shown." He snorted accepting the sword and returning it to it's place at his side. "When the path is easy there is no glory in it."

"That is also true." She replied as she stretched herself, wincing slightly as shifting weight down on either foot simply made the stabbing sensations she was feeling worse. Thinking back on the skirmish, she reflected on the men's' expressions. They had the look of desperate people who may or may not have been at the end of their rope. Quite likely their masters had threatened with the worst punishment they could think up if they failed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, watching her closely.

"I'm alright." She then covered the lower half of her face with the muffler before pulling on the hood again. "Shall we go?"

"Let's." He agreed and moved to back things back on the horse so they could travel again.

Fortunately, the rest of the day was without incident, and they managed to find a place to stay the night at a small hamlet en route to Windsor. It saw enough traffic to ensure some measure of prosperity but fortunately, the villagers did not ask too much questions nor were they interested. Some farmers even had mounts for sale, though none of them were the war beast Alaine hoped for. In any case, she was grateful for the chance to rest up and do something about her aching feet.

"My horse can't take both our weight for an extended journey." He pointed out when she was hesitant to purchase a mount of her own, with his coin.

She nodded, giving Erzengel a hearty pat on the neck as a reward for putting up with the additional burden of her. "Right. Let's see what we've got." Biting her lip at the flash of pain that coursed up from her feet and up her legs, Alaine headed over to the small pasture, carefully looking over the three horses, examining every inch of their bodies with a critical eye. "The black with the white left fore sock and the star on its forehead." She stated, singling out the horse that would serve as her mount from here on in.

Seto grumbled and haggled a little with the owner, but finally paid a fair price for the beast. As he left he glanced over at her. "Alaine. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I...It can't be helped, Seto." She gently ran her hand over the horse's neck and back. "I'll have to pay you back after I get the Rose Cards."

"I meant because you are bleeding." He said, touching his finger to his lip where she had bit hers.

She licked at her lower lip, seemingly unperturbed by the revelation. "...I bit down too hard. Oh well." She began to lead the horse over to the stall beside Erzengel's. "As I said before, it can't be helped."

He gave her a look that said she most certainly could help it by not biting her lip. "As you say Lady Alaine."

"It's not my lip that's my current worry. But I appreciate your concern, Seto." As she spoke she couldn't help but take him in one last time before heading over to the small camp they had set up not far from the farm.

"What is your current worry?" He asked cagily as they headed to their camp for a meal.

"My feet." It was strange how she could be so casual about the problem, trying to downplay it as though it was nothing. Even Alaine herself was a little disturbed by this.

He frowned at that. "What's wrong with your feet?"

"It feels like I'm walking on knives...stabbing into my flesh." She frowned and lifted her left foot, frowning as she saw the heel was a darker brown than she remembered.

His expression turned rather concerned. "That's... terrible. What's making that happen?"

"Remember what that old druid said earlier?"

"His ramblings were beneath me." Seto muttered.

"Well, most of his ramblings _were_ rather inane and repetitive. But I am now paying the price for refusing to take their 'strong recommendation' to heart."

"What do you mean?"

"The powers that be have inflicted stigmata on me, and now I bleed with every step I take. On the one hand, I will be lighter on my feet and my grace will border on otherworldly but the ground will feel like knives."

Seto looked shocked at this revelation. "And... you decided on my side, despite this curse on you." He said.

"Pretty much." She frowned slightly as she took in his expression. "Is it that strange to you?"

"Perhaps a bit." He agreed. "I do not know how to repay you for this sacrifice, but I am impressed by your fortitude."

"You don't have to repay me but the thought is appreciated." She shifted so that she was basically sitting down on her knees, bypassing the curse. "And thank you."

"It is my privilege." He nodded.

She watched as he prepared the meal. "You're not from these parts, are you." It wasn't a question.

"I? No. And neither you, obviously." He answered, letting the meat cook over the flames.

"You speak English very well but there's still that slight hint of an accent." She replied as she pulled down her hood.

"And you as well, 'de France'."

She nodded, shifting her position again to lie down on her side to find a more comfortable way of bypassing the stigmata. Looking him over, Alaine tried to recall if any of her suitors back home had been so striking, so confident of themselves. She failed, if only because none of these could match him.

Seto shifted himself, letting her prop her feet up on his shins as they lay down. He did his best to make it seem like he was simply stretching out in his bedroll, and angled his upper body away from her so that it was clear he was not making an effort to take her virtue.

She smiled at that and turned about so that her back faced him, a sign that she -some would say foolishly-trusted him to watch her back. She did not fall asleep right away, gazing about her surroundings as she placed down trap spells about the camp's perimeter.

She found that he too had placed a few 'face downs' around the area himself, but he seemed to drop into light slumber almost instantly, as any campaigner learned to do.

She soon fell asleep as well, to the sound of the rustling grass as it was blown by a soft nighttime breeze and the crackling of the fire.

* * *

And that ends the first session. Feedback is greatly appreciated and adored, particularly because I'll be using this as the base for an actual fic.

*By this point, me and JW% had gotten tired of using gender neutral terms.

Erzengel: Christian's horse, his name means 'Arch angel' in German. In the original transcript, he was a black stallion called Stranger. Admittedly, that was me having Sandor Clegane on the brain.

Alain/Alaine: French variant of Alan and Alanna.

Stigmata: Originally, this had been referred to as a geis, mostly to keep with the Celtic theme. However, geis can also be positive as well as negative conditions imposed on a person. In the end, stigmata was decided on as the more appropriate term because the negative aspects are emphasized over the positive ones and also because in the Celtic mythos, its usually women who impose geis on the heroes, whereas no woman imposed this on Alaine. Anyone who's read The Little Mermaid will recognize the effect.

Remember, reviews are welcome! -ValarSpawn


	2. Windsor (The First Rose)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz, Tea/Elizabeth of York  
Location: Skype**

* * *

The fire burned down to warm coals, with Seto awakening every two hours or so and sitting up to stir it from where he sat.

At some point in the night she ended up calling it quits on any efforts to sleep, mainly due to troublesome dreams of lifetimes long past. Technically, such hidden knowledge was something experienced by many duelists but with her especial status as a Divine Duelists, the memory leak was drastically enhanced. Reaching out to tend to the fire, Alaine forced herself to push away those thoughts, knowing she would eventually lose sight of herself if she gave in.

Seto awakened as she checked the fire, his body tensing for a moment, and then relaxing to go back to sleep again, keeping his thoughts to himself it seemed.

She kept watch for the remainder of the night, feeding the fire when needed but otherwise remaining quite still on her cot and listening to her surroundings in the darkness.

The sun rose in the east soon enough, a chill fog rising as the dew started to evaporate. Seto was awake as the dawns light started to fill the sky, before the sun was even visible.

Alaine, of course, was up earlier due to her sleepless night. She had taken some time to bathe in a nearby creek before getting dressed again, making sure to wrap bandages around her feet before slipping her boots on again and heading back to the campsite.

She found Seto performing morning stretching exercises, the fire built up a little to warm the breakfast.

She moved over to the fire, keeping an eye on the meal to make sure it didn't burn. Alaine would have greeted him but she didn't want to distract him from his exercises.

"How are you feeling this morn?" He asked, still moving through kata.

"...Been better. I feel refreshed now though."

He made a grunt sound and finished his exercise, his arm limbered up to wield a sword, and he offered her to take her portion of the breakfast first.

She nodded, serving herself some of whatever was in the pot and then moving away so he could serve himself.

Seto devoured what was left quickly and mostly without tasting it. This was probably for the best as the trail rations he had prepared were flavorless porridge.

She finished her portion and helped him in packing up.

The load had been divided among the two horses, and soon enough the two of them were ready to travel again.

They set off again at a lively pace, though making sure not to push the horses too hard. It would be a few more days before they arrived at Windsor. There were signs of heightened activity about the place, proof that they caught one of Yugi's followers in the process of preparing to leave for Dover.

"I assume you have a plan for this." Seto said as they noted the activity.

"They all seem pretty preoccupied with the move. I could simply sneak in and conduct my business before anyone catches on." Alaine said as she studied the castle, trying to gauge the best place for an entry.

"Good luck then." He replied. "I'll meet you by the gate, if you make it out alive."

"Take care." She said, attaching Chanson's reins to his saddle before slipping off the horse and setting out. Despite that the grass felt like knives it did not stop her, and she soon found her opening. Before anyone was none the wiser, Alaine had already begun to climb, quickly finding handholds and places to lean on as she scaled the wall. After reaching the battlements, the Rose Duelist climbed over them and vanished from his sight.

As predicted, it wasn't hard to mingle in amongst the rushing servants and find her way to Elizabeth's room. From there, they proceeded to the duel (the woman had more skill than Alaine estimated but it had not been enough), though not before Alaine cast the necessary magic to isolate the duel so that no one else caught on. "I'll be taking this, now." She said as she took the Red Rose Card from the enraged princess.

"Traitor! We were the ones who called for your help! You were supposed to win the fight against him and his!" Alaine slipped the card into a pouch. "And there you go, pulling the Fate card again. As though I have no say simply because I happen to be an instrument of the gods." Her eyes narrowed. "Whatever. I have no platitudes to give you."

Alaine turned away from Elizabeth, quickly making her exit and breaking the dimensional spell as she made her way back to the battlements. At one point the alarm was raised but by the time they started to rouse themselves to action, Alaine had already leapt off the battlements, landing in a conveniently placed pile of dried hay or grass before dashing towards the gate, where Seto waited.

Seto had their horses ready for an escape, and to move on to Dover, when she found him. He seemed to have done some shopping on the way too, though not all that much. Just enough to refill their food stocks.

Once they were certain their enemies would not pursue, they slowed to a walk, eventually simply dismounting from their horses to lead them by the reins. Despite the pain she felt from all the running about at Windsor (running on sword blades is not fun) along with this, Alaine didn't complain, instead choosing to try and distract herself from this concern by striking up a conversation with her companion.

Seto was silent until she tried to strike up the conversation.

"I have to say, I've never seen armor quite like that in my life."

"It's custom made."

"It must have taken a lot of skill...Does that wing ever give you any trouble when you move?"

"I've learned to compensate for it, even to use it defensively if I have to protect my shoulder."

"Do you just ram your shoulder into people then?" She paused, studying the detail of the wing. "Perhaps deflect bullets?"

"I can, if the need arises." He acknowledged.

"Sounds painful." On her next step she noticed that the bandages felt soaked and that she made slight squelching sounds with every step. Even so, she did not complain, determined to carry on until it was time to break camp.

He shrugged, not really wanting to comment on how painful his assault could be.

"Back at Stonehenge, both you and Simon mentioned 'Rose Crusaders'...Is that some kind of knight order?"

"We would like to be, yes." Christian replied. "But others simply see us as a mercenary unit."

"Ah. Are there many of you?"

"We have a fair force, spread across the Island. Most are currently aiding the King to secure his lands. I would think we'll be meeting up with some of them before reaching Dover."

"I look forward to that meeting the-!" The stone hadn't been too sharp but it was a fair size and pushed right up against the arc of her foot when she stepped on it by accident, which only made the stabbing sensation even worse. Quickly, Alaine kicked the stone towards the roadside as she regained her composure and resumed walking. "Sorry about that."

"Is something wrong?" He asked, looking about a little startled.

"I stepped down too hard on a rock and that added to the pain."

He snorted. "I should pay more attention to your feet." He said softly, almost to himself, before walking over to her. "Mount up." He ordered.

"Seto, I can manage a few more..."

He bodily grabbed her, scooping her up with one hand around her back and the other under her knees. "I won't stand for you injuring yourself further on my account." He told her, all but throwing her over the saddle to haul her like a sack of grain.

She quickly straightened up on the saddle, flashing him a look showing she did not appreciate being treated like a sack of grain. Still, she held back from protesting and settled back onto her seat.

He seemed to withdraw into himself after that display of emotion, particularly his words, walking ahead of the horses as she rode.

Eventually, it was too late to keep going, so they broke camp for that night.

They made camp near a stream, once more with fresh water. Seto built the fire and started to boil some water before declaring: "I intend to wash some of this trail dust from me. Do you wish to use the pool downstream first?"

She did not respond right away, somewhat distracted by the mental image. "Wouldn't that be...Um...yes, I think I'll go first." Quickly turning her back to him, she went to grab a change of clothes from her pack and headed towards the pool, managing to keep a straight face despite the pink tinge in her cheeks.

He shrugged and let her take her bath first, giving her the time she needed.

She took some time, a lot of it simply to dip her feet into the pool. The cuts were gone but there were still bloodstains and the bandages were soaked through to the point she decided it was better to bury them. And of course throughout her bath her thoughts lingered on certain events. She did finish up though, and quickly got dressed in the new change of clothes before bundling up the old one and heading back to the camp. "I'm done." Alaine stated as she joined him at the campfire, sitting down as she began to smooth out the wrinkles before folding the old change of clothes.

"The meal's ready." He'd managed to bring some game birds down, and had cleaned and cooked them, applying some herbs from a pouch in his saddlebag to give them a bit of a different flavor. He apparently hadn't waited for her, though there was still a fair bit left on the cooking spit. Christian climbed to his feet and went to the pool himself.

She helped herself to what was left, making sure to eat her fill even though she felt more like picking at her food. In the meantime, Christian was left to ponder his own private musings as he bathed.

He had left his armor there, somehow managing to get out of it despite all the buckles and heavy plate. It sat on his bedroll; at least two 'Face Down' spells (or traps) protecting it.

After finishing her meal, Alaine fished around in her pack and took out her sketchpad and a pencil before she began drawing the armor, starting with a rough sketch then gradually filling in the details.

Christian seemed to take his time, long enough for her to finish her sketch at least, before she heard him approaching the camp again.

By the time he arrived, she was putting on the finishing touches, such as filling in the dragon's eye and altering the shadows.

He had, of course, already dressed again, at least in his basic underclothing, but now he sat down, as though contemplating if he should put the armor on, or sleep without it.

Finished with the drawing she laid down the sketchpad on her lap, revealing the drawing.

He glanced at it, but then seemed to pay it no mind. His only response seemed to be a shake of the head and a rolling of the eyes.

She shrugged this off, instead looking skyward. "So...our next stop is London, then."

"Yes, there's a Rose Duelist who has been living at the Kings mercy in that city for some time now."

"And yet he is of the Red." There was a long pause as she thought over the connotations of the situation. "Then that means Richard III is king only in name."

"What do you mean by that?" Christian said with a frown. "Simply because he allows one of the Red Rose, who are all family and kin to the White Rose, the mercy of staying at their home in London and other places, instead of driving these who are distant cousins to the true troublemakers out..."

"Ah right...I forgot about Henry and Richard being cousins." Pause. "How long has that barrier been in place, exactly? Has it been there ever since Henry Tudor staked his claim or was it more recent than that?" It was conjecture right now, but she had the feeling that Richard Slysheen's time was practically over. Quite possibly, London was now in Lancastrian hands...

"The barrier is recent, to give King Richard enough time to muster his armies and to keep the summoned beasts of the Red Roses from entering the lands. The King wishes this to be a battle of men, not magic."

"Hmm... I suppose." Despite that statement, Alaine wasn't convinced. It was possible the King kept the man as a political hostage but frankly she had her doubts. 'I suppose we'll find out when we reach London...' She thought to herself.

"Political hostages are often allowed some measures of freedom... I wouldn't be surprised if this man has many supporters and is still quite dangerous." Seto mused.

"That is true...I don't suppose you would know the man's location."

"Sadly no. I do not cover London."

"Oh. I guess I'll have to snoop around when we get there."

"I will be meeting with some men then. Good luck on your duel."

"Good luck on your own endeavors as well." She looked him over. "I wonder if we'll ever get a chance to test each other's dueling ability."

"Perhaps." Christian said with a sly smile. "I believe I would enjoy such a match."

Something about that smile sent shivers down Alaine's spine though she could not explain why, if someone pressed her. Even so, she matched his expression, excited anticipation starting to build up within her. "I look forward to the day such a match becomes reality then."

* * *

**Divine Duelist**: A Duelist chosen by the gods to act as their agent. Usually, they are skilled, formidable opponents though that is more from their own merit than Divine influence. However, they do seem to have a strong intuition as to what tactics and stratagems will gain them victory, possibly a sign of subtle guidance. Like other duelists, they are subject to the side effect of experiencing memory dreams, though they are much more intense and vivid, making the possibility of these individuals losing perspective of their current life and identities a very real concern.

**Side effects of Dueling**: With each duel, a duelist's inner sight develops and expands, allowing to perceive hidden truths that they might not have known before. Oftentimes, this usually translates to dreaming of instances from previous lifetimes though that's not all it's limited to.

**Chanson**: French word for song, Alaine's horse. Originally she was a dapple-gray warmare called Rhiannon.

**Elizabeth**: In the game, the first opponent you face in the Yorkist story mode is Tea, and given that Yugi is Henry Tudor, it makes sense to assume Tea's incarnation here is Elizabeth of York. Even if at the same time one wonders how she ended up on the Lancastrian side when her name indicates she should be with the enemy.

As always, reviews and feedback are welcome!


	3. London (The Second Rose)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz, Tristan Grey, Ser Hugo Underwood, Thomas Crawford  
Location: Skype**

* * *

They arrived at London in due time and split up, with Alaine to be guided to the Red Rose Duelist, and Seto to speak with a fellow Rose Crusader.

Of course, before that could happen, Alaine took some time to wander the city, mainly to listen in on city gossip and hearsay while making seemingly innocent inquiries of her own. Eventually, results were had from her efforts. The Lancastrian Duelist Tristan Grey was at the Tower of London. Certainly, the tower would be guarded but she was confident she could sneak in. Using the mind link she shared with her monsters, Alaine singled out one and instructed it to carry a message to Christian, to let him know of her whereabouts and an update on her situation as she began looking for a way to reach the Tower of London.

Christian received the letter as he was speaking with one of the lesser Rose Crusaders. With a growl he muttered something about how his position would have let her enter the tower without subterfuge, and he attempted to send a similar message back to her... but it might not get to her in time.

Fortunately she did get the message in time, so she sent a message back stating she'd be waiting for him on the street facing the part of the river where the Traitor's Gate was located. While she was grateful for that bit of assistance, Alaine couldn't help grumbling to herself as she headed over to one of the tables outside a pub to wait for him.

Christian showed up with Sir Underwood at the Traitor's Gate soon enough, looking around for her. Sir Underwood suggested going to the pub and getting a drink while they waited for her...

She spotted them easily enough and walked over, clearing her throat before addressing Christian in her passable attempt at a masculine voice. "Seto."

"Alain." He replied with a nod. Sir Underwood snorted.

"If you can see your girlfriend I can head to the pub."

Her eyes narrowed slightly under the hood as she looked the newcomer up and down. "And this pipsqueak is...?" She still hadn't dropped the voice; in fact, she altered it slightly so that the tone was deeper and a touch threatening as she addressed Christian's companion.

"Pipsqueak!" Sir Underwood shouted, and was interrupted by Christian.

"This is Sir Underwood, one of my loyal Rose Crusaders. Who was about to go have a drink, wasn't he?"

"Absolutely. Enjoy your wh..."

"Call her that and we'll see a repeat of the beehive incident."

"...lady friend."

Alaine watched him go to the pub before giving Christian a singular look that conveyed her feelings perfectly: 'How did he know?'

Christian ignored her question, moving to walk to the gate. "Why do you need in, anyway?"

"That's where Lord Grey is." She replied, going back to her normal voice as she followed in his wake.

"I figured as much." Christian sighed. "I assume there's some mystical reason why the card hasn't been taken from him yet..." He moved to address the guard. "I am Sir Christian Rosenkreuz, on the business of the King. There someone in the tower I wish to... question."

"He probably keeps it close to his person. Also, I can't verify it but...bad things have happened to those who have tried to take the cards without giving their due." She said as the guard waved them in and they walked past him into the vast courtyard leading towards the Tower.

"And the duel is a due." Christian said. "Very well, we're through, I'll watch you as you duel him."

"As you wish." She wasn't sure she liked the idea of him getting an assessment of her skills before the right time but now wasn't the time to worry about it. Eventually, they were led to Tristan Grey's rather comfortable quarters in the Tower, which made his situation-political hostage or not-seem more like house arrest than anything else. "Lord Grey, I presume?" Alaine was using her male facade again as she stepped towards the Lancastrian noble.

Christian just watched patiently, seeming to have no words to waste on Grey.

The man turned around, turning a haughty, imperious gaze typical of his station on his visitors. "Judging from the company you keep, you are obviously the traitorous Rose Duelist." In turn, Alaine simply made a mock-bow, as exaggerated as she could manage. "You know, the insistent terminology is getting quite old. But enough of that: we have business."

She said as she pulled up from the bow, spreading out her arms as she began walking towards him. Almost immediately, Tristan surged towards her, unsheathing his sword and moving it for a downward strike. He might have hit something, if not for the blade that had slid out from a hidden sheath in the underside of Alaine's bracer, blocking the attack. At the same time, monsters appeared above them: a Flame Swordsman against a weaker Uraby, whose presence only added power to the warrior's fiery strike.

Christian watched with a bored detachment and a clinical eye as they dueled.

That said, the fight before him wasn't as boring as he'd lead one to believe, what with Alaine using a variety of weapons from hidden blades to swords to daggers while a variety of monsters (though her most powerful monsters seemed to be dragons) fought each other above her and Tristan.

As things stood, it was becoming clear that Tristan Grey was outmatched, his monsters currently facing down a Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, an Aqua Dragon, a Swordstalker and a Barrel Dragon. From there the conflict quickly became a downward spiral of defeat for the Lancastrian Noble and he fell to his knees just as her Swordstalker struck down his last monster. Mercifully, she had not toyed with him.

"I'll be taking this." She said as she sheathed her blade and dismissed her creatures, then reaching down for the distinctive rectangle shaped pendant around his neck, finding a small catch on the border and snapping it open to reveal the desired prize within. After retrieving the card, she turned around and walked back towards Christian.

Christian felt it unnecessary to clap at the events, so instead gave a slight bow of farewell. "A good day to you then Lord Grey."

If Grey said anything in response, they did not hear it as they walked out into the hall. At one point during the walk, Alaine had stopped for a few seconds to shift her about in an attempt to relieve the pain when she suddenly heard a very small noise: it sounded like it might be a sniffle but it was muffled by the walls. She breathed in and held her breath, trying to catch the sound again and focusing her hearing only on that.

Christian gave her a look, curious and concerned as she paused, but if he heard the sound, he didn't respond to it.

She noticed him stop and simply gestured for him to be silent, still listening for the strange sound to make sure she hadn't simply been hearing things.

Some seconds later, she heard it again. Still muffled to an extent but it sounded closer than she estimated. Alaine resumed breathing again, making sure to keep it quiet as she began looking about the hall. When she moved past Christian, Alaine stopped, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "I heard sniffling...I don't think we're entirely alone in this hallway."

Christian looked down the hallway with a glare. "Are you sure? There are cells here; they could hold others besides the one we had business with."

Alaine didn't respond, stopping at what looked like a closet door. She pressed her ear to it for a few seconds, then pulled back to open it, frowning when it didn't give right away. The Rose Duelist applied a bit more force and the door gave way, immediately followed by a childlike gasp from within. Alaine found herself faced with a young boy trying to shrink back into a stack of blankets, eyes wide with fear. Slowly, she moved down to his level, going on one knee as she pulled back her hood.

"Alaine." Christian growled and did his best to stop her from getting any closer. "I won't have you releasing prisoners of The Tower. We're leaving."

"I wasn't going to release him; he was able to do it on his own." She glanced back at the boy, noting his features and style of dress. "Don't worry...I've never hurt children and don't intend to start now. What's your name?"

The boy leaned forward from his hiding place, calming down a little at the soft and gentle tone. "T-Thomas Crawford..."

Seto made a disgusted sigh and moved to make certain the boy couldn't escape as Alaine resolved her curiosity.

She nodded. "I see. For what it's worth...you need to be strong. You'll be free, eventually." She pulled back from the closet and pulled her hood over her face again. "I never saw you." Was her parting statement to the boy as she quietly shut the closet door for him before resuming their walk down the hall.

"We both never saw anything but Lord Grey." Christian growled as they walked.

Of course as they walked, the way her shoulders were set clued him as to her state of mind, a sign she was more troubled by the child hostage than she was letting on. She was also starting to drag her feet a little, a sign that they were hurting. "So...are we to continue on horseback towards Canterbury?"

"I believe that would be best, yes. Though you should take time off your feet while I see to Sir Underwood. He's apt to have drunk himself quite a bill by now, and I need to be sure that the headache he suffers in the morning doesn't stop him from performing his duties."

"Where shall we meet?" She inquired, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"Where do you want to wait? I'll leave you there, and gather you when I am ready to leave. No more than a few hours."

"Hmm...I think I'll be at the tavern near London Bridge." Pause. "Would that suit?"

"That would suit nicely, yes." Christian nodded and offered her some coin, should she want to get something to eat or drink there.

She accepted the coin, mentally adding another tally to the debt, which she'd hopefully get a chance to pay back once she was on the other side of the Thames. Adding the coins to a coin pouch hidden within the folds of her cloak, Alaine followed him out of the Tower courtyard and soon parted ways with him at the tavern in question.

It was easily an hour later that Christian arrived, with a carriage. Also a number of soldiers he apparently was seeing off, as they left as he came to search for Alaine.

Alaine had started to pace when he arrived and raised a surprised eyebrow at the coach. "I suppose it will be a very long ride..." She began as she approached him.

"Indeed." Christian said, noticing that she had been pacing and frowned at her.

"I felt restless." Was all she could offer for an excuse as she walked over to the coach and climbed inside.

He gave her a dark look, but shook it off, like he was trying to convince himself he didn't care what she did to herself. "I thought that this would be an easier ride the rest of the way. Better comfort."

She nodded and took her seat, sighing softly as the pain was finally gone, at least for the moment. Alaine had been sitting down for most of that hour but her lack of movement simply meant a duller sensation of pain.

"Why don't you put your feet up?" Christian asked.

"I was trying to be polite..." Alaine began, somewhat uncertain.

"Please," He gestured. "Relax and make yourself comfortable."

She smiled at him and pulled her legs up onto her seat before leaning back against one side of the coach.

Christian moved to one side, letting her stretch out, and he took out some travel food, eating his lunch as they travelled. "I assume you ate." He said, though he could have been offering her some.

"I did." She replied, watching him eat. "How did things go with Underwood?"

"He was behaving himself when I found him. Though his luck at dice would certainly have changed when they started using a fresh set." Christian shrugged. "I would apologize for his lack of manners."

Personally, it was a better brand compared to the one given her by the Lancastrians but that did not make it a flattering one. "You don't have to extend an apology on his behalf but...I accept it." Alaine said as she shifted to pull off her cloak and muffler before stuffing them into her pack.

Christian shrugged, muttering softly, "It's not your fault."

Alaine heard his words but did not respond, her eyes drawn in by the intense sapphire hue of his eyes. After a few seconds of this, she reluctantly tore her gaze away from his eyes and directed her gaze towards the window opposite of the side she was leaning on in her seat.

He had already been looking out the window, though her shifting and removing her eyes from his caused him to glance over and study her face for a moment. At least until he realized he was doing it, and once again look away.

There were some awkward moments of this, each sneaking glances at the other when they thought they weren't being watched until Alaine shifted in her seat again, rearranging her position so that she was lying down on the seat.

Christian didn't care for the awkward moments, and was about to simply meet her gaze with his own when she shifted to lie down on the seat. Instead he reached out to gently place a hand on her.

Her eyes fluttered open at the touch of his hand on her-she had been considering taking a nap during part of the ride-and she met his gaze, not moving from her position on the seat.

Christian simply looked down at her, leaving his hand to touch her lightly, and remained silent as he met her gaze.

Shyly, she moved one hand towards his and rested it over his own, almost pulling it away as something akin to a minor electric shock seemed to pass between them...but that could have simply been her own fancies.

The speed at which his eyes glanced to her hand as the warmth of it touched his own implied that he too felt some sort of shock, but after a moment he seemed to get used to her presence and even enjoy it, letting her hold his hand as he rested it there, his gaze returning to her face.

Alaine waited a little before she began gently smoothing her fingertips over the back of his hand, enjoying the feel of his skin against her own while trying not to dwell overmuch on how the rest of him would feel pressed against her...

He watched her face, as though seeking answers for what she was doing, and finally just closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of contact with her.

Eventually, Alaine dozed off, though curiously her hand did not loosen its grip on his own.

He didn't seem to mind the contact at all, and let her hold his hand as they traveled, the slightest of smiles curling only the corner of his lips.

While she would still be troubled by dream visions of past lifetimes, a few which were relevant to her current life had snuck into her subconscious. For the most part her reactions were self-contained but occasionally she slipped up; at least once she had moaned his name softly in her sleep. Not Seto, the nickname he had given by way of introduction but Christian.

The carriage continued on, journeying to the next city with them riding in relative comfort, at least as far as that went. Christian didn't intrude into her rest, and in fact tried to get some of his own, his eyes originally closed in pleasure now turned to restfulness.

* * *

**Ser Hugo Underwood**: Granted, in the actual game, he's still called Weevil Underwood but had to take some liberties to try and differentiate the two. No, we still don't know how he figured right off that Christian's companion is a woman. Of course, he also doesn't know he just called the Rose Duelist a whore so that should make for an awkward encounter if they meet again...

**A/N 1**: This ties into a theory I have concerning the Rose Cards and why you have to fight other duelists in order to win them. In the game, the reason is because whatever side you join needs them as much as you do, and you're technically in a war. Here I posit that the Rose Cards need to be won no matter the circumstances: a duel must be fought. I'd give the full details behind this theory but it's kinda spoiler-y so it'll have to wait.

**Tristan Grey**: Tristan/Honda's incarnation in this time period and the second opponent you face in the Yorkist story.

As you can see, Christian and Alaine seem to be growing fond of each other. Wonder what will happen next? As always, feedback is welcome!


	4. The Road from London

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz  
Location: Skype**

* * *

By the time she woke up, the sun was setting and their coachman had pulled to a stop after maneuvering the carriage into a forest clearing that concealed it from the roadside. Carefully, she rose from her seat and moved over to Christian's side. For a few moments, she watched him sleep, wondering what it'd be like to kiss those lips before gently shaking him awake.

Christian came awake immediately, as though he had only been lightly dozing and took a moment to adjust to his situation. "We're making camp I see." He said, opening the carriage door to see what kind of a place the coachman had found for them.

It was a good area: in addition to concealing the carriage there was also a stream that ended in a pool. The area in generally was dotted with trees all around. As he inspected the new campsite, Alaine stepped out of the carriage as well, her travel pack in hand as she took a moment to stretch before walking past him to set up the camp.

Christian seemed reasonably pleased with the results, and went about tending to the camp, gathering firewood and setting snares to catch dinner.

"Do you need help with the armor?" She asked him after he had finished setting up the snares. "I mean...you've been in it all day."

"I'm fine." He replied with a shrug. "I'm used to wearing it throughout the day."

She nodded and took a seat by the campfire, gazing into the flames. "After Canterbury, it's just straight on to Dover...no more stopping at certain towns because there's Red Rose Duelists there." Alaine muttered as she shifted in her sitting position.

"Yes." Seto agreed. "You wish to capture all the cards, we can only hope we can make it to Dover before they cross the channel."

"Yes, it's just...I'm going to miss this." Alaine admitted in a quiet voice as she looked over to him. "Miss you."

He returned her gaze. "And I, you." He replied.

Alaine had to look away then as her face turned red, wanting to say something-anything-and failing at it.

"Are you well Alaine?" He asked as he noticed her face turning red. "You look flushed."

"I'm alright." She was talking too fast. "It's nothing."

He gazed at her a bit more in silence before finally saying "of course."

Seeing he was simply playing along, Alaine sighed. "Sorry, I seem to be developing this tendency to get flustered around...men I really like." She replied, trying to act as though she had not just admitted she liked this young man in his strange armor. Inwardly, she was kicking herself for it; she was no longer a blushing maid who had just started learning about men or the ways of the flesh (she was in all sense of the word, a virgin but thanks to her friends wanting to pass on their knowledge she wouldn't be completely clueless when the time came).

"And how many men you really like do you usually get flustered around?" He asked curiously. "From where you come from do you have a... husband? Suitor?"

"I have no husband. And suitors...well there's quite a few but I've been fending them off because...I'm a romantic and I would like to be in a marriage that isn't loveless and we are equals." Her tone was a bit nervous as she finished, unsure and afraid of his reaction to her views. "You probably think me a fool for wanting that..."

He shrugged. "Perhaps you are. You are, nonetheless, quite a remarkable Lady."

Alaine blushed at that and glanced away as she murmured a flustered-sounding thank you. "What of you?"

"A mercenary with no holdings of his own, and only the honor of his contracts and the strength of his swords?" He asked with raised eyebrow. "No lady would take me as a suitor. I might collect my share of camp followers, but who could trust them?"

"I suppose you have a point." There was a long pregnant pause before Alaine spoke again. "I would take you as a suitor." Barely had the words tumbled out of her mouth than Alaine's eyes widened with shock. _What is wrong with me? When did my tongue grow so loose!?_ She thought to herself as she subconsciously began to back away.

He looked at her long and hard as she said that, giving her just enough time to realize what she had said, and to back away a little bit. Finally he gave a bow that ended with him on one knee. "My Lady Alaine, I would be honored to be your suitor." He said with gravis. When he stood he gave his cloak a dramatic swirl.

Alaine was speechless, the corner of her lips threatening to twitch into a smile as she observed the swirl of his cloak. After taking a moment to collect herself, Alaine held out her hand to him. "I would be honored to be courted by you, Ser Christian."

"You will," He said taking her hand and moving to kiss the back of it, "find that my courtship may be rather untraditional I fear."

"Mmm...In that case I look forward to your brand of courtship." There was a slight purr in her voice now. "Tradition can be...too predictable for my liking."

"We shall see." He said. "I have little coin with which to win your dowry, and little standing. But then, you probably shouldn't be 'standing' either, should you? How are your feet?"

"Oh. That." She had honestly forgotten about them but at the moment she could still withstand the pain. "It's bearable."

"May I see?" He asked.

She would have used the excuse of '_it's a bloody mess, are you sure?_' except he was an experienced soldier and quite likely had seen worse. There was also something rather personal about showing her feet though she couldn't say what that was. With no excuse to exploit, Alaine simply nodded. "Alright."

He had her sit down, and carefully removed her boots, then her bandages, intending to wrap fresh ones for her. The carriage had a number of clean linen bandages purchased specifically for her.

Alaine watches as he starts to clean her feet, starting with the right. She notes how careful he is, making sure not to rub too hard on her skin. The Rose Duelist also realizes that his rubbing and kneading the sole of her foot feels pleasant and that she doesn't want it to stop.

"You... don't appear to be injured." He said, noting that while the bandages were bloody, there were no open wounds on her feet.

"There is a healing factor involved. I think enough of it is active to ensure I don't bleed to death while I stand or walk but it mainly kicks in when my feet aren't in contact with the ground."

"Interesting..." Christian noted, clearly curious about the process, but not wanting to touch her feet to the ground to experiment. "It also keeps you from infection it seems."

"They don't want me dead...only suffering." As far as punishments went it wasn't the worst she could have envisioned. But the stigmata did affect her in other ways besides the bleeding: to name an example, her stamina and endurance wasn't as high as it could actually be because of it.

He finished prodding at her foot for a moment and had the bandages ready to rebind them. "I'm sorry for causing such suffering." He said. "I know that you wouldn't have this if not for your choice to side with me, and I feel responsible." After all, he had tried to charm her into joining his side... for a... limited value of 'charm' of course.

"Please...don't blame yourself; this is my choice." As she spoke she reached out and touched his cheek gently, her fingertips ghosting over it and tracing down his jaw line. "Although...could I trouble you to rub them?"

He still looked a little worried about her choice, but at her request he looked back. "It would be my honor." He replied, starting to massage her foot, clumsily as he had no idea of what he was doing other than pressing on tendons and muscle, unsure if what he was doing was stimulating the erogenous zone or not.

It was clumsy but at the same time it brought relief. Her feet had been _so_ sore thanks to the stigmata that Alaine couldn't help letting out a soft moan of pleasure as she leaned back to enjoy the massage.

Her moan encouraged him, and he applied himself to the task of pleasuring her by hand... in what limited way was possible from the limitations of where he was touching her.

Eventually she had to pull her feet free from his grasp, which she did with extreme reluctance. It was an enjoyable massage, even though he was clearly unaccustomed to doing such with his hands. Of course, that lead to the main reason she had pulled away: any longer and she'd start seriously considering the naughty suggestions running rampant in her brain as to what else could those hands be capable of.

He glanced up as she pulled away, and then looked back down with a bit of a blush. "My apologies. I'll apply the fresh bandages and wash up for dinner."

"Um...don't get the wrong idea; it felt...good. Perhaps too good." Her cheeks were slowly turning pink as she spoke.

"Too good...?" He asked trailing off and looking confused.

"I might have said too much." She muttered as she reached for the roll of bandages. Stupid sexy Christian and his stupidly wonderful hands...

"Maybe..." He said, almost blushing and looking away from her shyly for a moment before he recovered himself and stood up to go clean up at the pool.

She recovered as well as she bound a new layer of bandages around her feet and putting her boots back on before placing the roll back in its kit. While Christian freshened up, Alaine got started on preparing and making dinner, deciding to roast some of the salted and preserved meat from their supplies.

Christian came back in a little bit, washed up and with his hair wetted down and pulled back.

She had placed the pieces of meat on two spits and was watching them roast when he returned.

"That looks... interesting." He noted, as the meat was already salted and dried by the salts.

"I did add some herbs to it." She said as she pulled one out of the fire, tested it to see if it was warm before handing it to him, then taking the other.

He took out his knife and cut at it, taking a bite and chewing it. The salt with salted meat was usually boiled off to make stew, but there was nothing wrong with eating it straight, and the herbs certainly added flavor to it.

She did the same with her own portion, content to remain silent as they ate.

The main problem Christian found was that it was hard and chewy. But he didn't seem to mind it, and sat there eating dinner with her.

She noted that problem as well but ate it anyway. Once she was done, Alaine excused herself, heading towards the stream and taking cover behind some bushes to take care of...certain urges.

Christian finished his meat with a wineskin and remained in camp, though he could easily hear her if she needed him or called out.

She came back several minutes later, though looking somewhat flushed and dazed as she took her original seat again.

He frowned at this. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She replied, thinking it might be too much to say she had been trying to find an outlet for stress and sexual frustration brought on both by him and her dreams via masturbating.

"You're flushed, and look a little dizzy... and I heard sounds while you were away..."

"...I'll make sure to contain myself on future occasions if any come up."

"Contain yourself?" He asked frowning.

She pointedly cleared her throat. "It's nothing serious." And it wasn't. At all.

He narrowed his eyes, watching her suspiciously.

She breathed in and drew herself to her full height, or as much as she could while sitting down. "It was personal. And _that_ is all I will say on the matter." Alaine stated before rising from her seat and heading back towards the carriage, not keen on telling him outright or sticking around long enough for him to piece it together.

He still looked at her suspiciously as he stood up, probably thinking it was the meat... or maybe something she ate back in London that had caused such... discomfort to her bowels.

Alaine decided it was best to turn in early for the night but of course, the memory dreams along with her own awaited her. Eventually, one of these took hold and she began to squirm and moan softly in her sleep with Christian's name occasionally leaving her lips.

She awoke in the middle of the night with a hand on her shoulder as Christian shook her. "What is it?" He asked.

"Dreams... Sorry for disturbing you."

"No, it's fine. I was just checking the fire." He said. "And I heard you call my name softly."

She had. Mostly because he had been doing such wonderful things with his hands and mouth and-

Alaine shook her head to clear it from the thoughts inspired by the dream. "Sorry...I guess I talk in my sleep." Pause. "And the dreams were...interesting."

He seemed to accept this with a nod. "Maybe you can tell me about them sometime. For now get some sleep."

She nodded and settled back down to sleep on the carriage seat. "Sleep well, Christian..."

He didn't reply to that, already heading back to his bedroll, content that the fire was fine and that she was alright.

She woke up sometime during the night, again too bothered by the dreams so she exited the carriage and went over to the campfire, sitting down on the rock she had used earlier.

This time she hadn't awakened Christian, so she had some time to contemplate the glowing embers before he awoke himself for the change of watch and stepped out sleepily to make sure everything was in the right place. "... Alaine?" He asked when he found something out of place.

"Can't sleep." She fed more wood to the flames. "Just rest. I'll be fine."

He grunted a little and almost went back to his bedroll, but then moved to sit by the fire. "What's wrong?" He asked, still somewhat asleep himself.

"You're tired; it can wait."

He seemed to sway a little bit, vacillating between "But you're important to me and I want to try to help you." and "Zzzzzz."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek before moving him towards his bedroll and pushing him down on it. "Sleep..."

He didn't seem to mind in the least that she was pushing him back into bed, and only put up a token struggle before he lay down for her

She folded her cloak before lying down on the bedroll beside him, figuring it would ensure he stayed in bed rather than stay up the rest of the night with her.

Her assumption turned out to be correct, and Christian stayed in bed as long as he felt her next to him. He did, on occasion, twitch and try to wake up, but then dozed back off again easily enough.

Subconsciously, Alaine snuggled against him, enjoying the warmth of his body beside hers as she watched the horizon.

He snuggled back, sleeping soundly through the night.

At some point she drifted off to sleep by his side and for once, she knew no dreams.

The sun rose soon enough on the two of them, and Alaine found herself practically in Christian's arms, despite the bedroll between them.

She didn't move having no objections to the arrangement, unintentional as it was. Alaine also decided then and there that she liked being in his arms; shame that she would not get to appreciate it for very long.

The filtering sunlight came over Christian slowly enough, and he awoke with a start, pulling away from her violently and looking around as his mind processed events. "... What... we didn't... did we?"

"We didn't; I couldn't see another way to make sure you went back to sleep so I laid down beside you. It worked." She felt she did not need to add the obvious: if they had, they would not be wearing their clothes and she'd be in the bedroll with him.

"Oh... right... I apologize my lady Alaine. I did not wish to discredit your virtue." He muttered almost blushing. "We should get up and be ready to leave soon."

Alaine couldn't suppress the smirk on her lips as she leaned close to him, resting an arm on his shoulder as she whispered in his ear. "I wouldn't object to _you_ discrediting _my_ virtue, Christian..."

Christian coughed a little and actually did blush at that statement. "You are a bold woman Alaine." He replied.

"So I'm told." She replied as she leaned back, her smirk having acquired a smug quality to it, likely because she was congratulating herself on making Christian Rosenkreuz blush.

He shuffled out of his bedroll and started putting his clothing, mostly his armor, back on. "What made you unable to sleep in the first place?" He asked while he attended to this.

She got up to help him with it, tightening and adjusting the straps where needed. "Dreams."

"What sort of dreams?"

Alaine looked uncomfortable, as though gauging the pros and cons of telling him in detail before finally making the decision to do it anyway. "I dream of memories that aren't mine. Maybe at some point, they might have been but they wouldn't be the memories of Alaine de Poitiers." She frowned, more at her explanation than whatever his reaction might be. "I'm not making sense. It might be better if I had not mentioned it to begin with. I beg your pardon."

"They're just dreams." Christian told her gently.

"I know that. I know that better than anyone." She looked down at the ground as she moved to secure the straps on his left arm. "But it's like I am caught in a current and it is only a matter of time before I lose perspective because..." A slight pause as one of the buckles was giving her some trouble before she fixed that. "Parts of the memories resonate with something deep within me. It's as though I am staring into a distorted mirror and cannot look elsewhere."

"They're just dreams." Christian repeated, reaching out and touching her cheek. "They won't hurt you."

She closed her eyes at his touch, though from the set of her jaw she still had doubts about her dreams not hurting her. Still, the Rose Duelist drew some comfort from it before moving to do the same with the other arm.

"Thank you my lady." Christian said as his armor was fitted to him. "Shall we break our fast and head off?"

"Of course. I'll join you in a bit." She had to put her chainmail shirt back on, after all.

He went to finish the last of the jerked meat, putting a little grain into a pot and heating it for hot cereal.

She joined him some minutes later after putting the chainmail back under her outer layer of clothes and equipping her weapons back on.

He offered her some wordlessly, chopping a little sugar from a cone of it onto the cereal.

She accepted the bowl, letting him add some sugar to the bowl before she began eating from it. "So...how was your sleep?"

"Restful." Christian noted. "I had you in my arms after all."

"...I liked that too."

"Shameless woman that you are." He teased.

"You didn't seem to object." She said, teasing him back.

"And why not? A lovely woman, sacrificing her dignity for his pleasure? Sounds like what many of my troops would pay for."

"I couldn't get you to sleep otherwise...And it seemed that despite your intentions you were too tired to decide between hearing out my problems or just falling asleep beside me."

"I'm listening to them now aren't I?" He asked. "Or were you having... other problems? Like when you went off behind the bushes last night?"

She had been chewing on the cereal when he mentioned that and she choked a bit as the ensuing gasp ensured it went down the wrong pipe. "Um..."

He gave a little smug smile, but didn't press the issue any further as he finished his meal.

She had a feeling that would not be the last she saw of this line of questioning but went back to eating, pushing that worry to the back of her mind.

"Shall we be off then?" He asked, standing up and dealing with the eating utensils.

She nodded and rose to help him pack up so they could resume their journey.

* * *

**A/N**: This chapter is particularly shippy. Also has moments of cute. Me and JW% have this running gag of Kaiba insisting that "Kaibas aren't cute" (followed shortly by "...damnit, Mokuba"), which also extends to his incarnations to some extent. They claim this, but then moments like _these_ happen and this claim is suddenly very dubious. And yes, some of those memory dreams are heavily implied to be bedroom scenes because I am mean to my characters like that.

As always, feedback is welcome!


	5. Before the Gates of Canterbury

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz  
Location: Skype**

* * *

They got back into the carriage and rode off for their next destination, with Christian keeping an eye on the road for possible ambushes.

There was at least two, one by highwaymen who had lingered in the brush hoping for easy prey. However, they easily outclassed them in fighting prowess and they were taken care of swiftly. The second ambush wasn't so easy, as the ambushing party had been trained soldiers sent from Canterbury, each bearing a token of a Harpy within a Red Rose: Margaret Beaufort's special coat of arms. She would likely be the most formidable opponent Alaine would face so far on this side of the Thames. Alaine sighed as she pocketed one of the tokens before studying her body and spotting several wounds; mainly cuts along her legs and arms, with at least one arrow sunk into her side.

"It seems you may be in for a fight." Christian said, taking the time to pull an arrow from where it had caught in his armor. "Let me help you with that arrow."

"I've heard the _Harpy of Prydain_ is one of the best Duelists on the island." Alaine remarked as she arranged her position so that she wouldn't impede his removal of the arrow.

Christian snorted disdainfully, but didn't debate the point as he put his hand gently against her side and pulled. "Glad we have the extra bandages."

"Well...native to England at least." She gritted her teeth as he pulled it out, though to her credit, she did not flinch at the pain.

He took to wrapping the bandages around them both with a sigh. "I suppose I'm doing my duty to king and country, routing such brigands from the roads."

"I suppose." She waited for him to finish before taking the roll of bandages from him so she could return the favor.

"Apologies." He said, realizing that while he had been tending her side one hand had been on her breast the entire time. "You're bandaged."

"There's no need to apologize." Alaine said as she took the roll of bandages from him so she could see to his injuries.

Christian pulled off a section of his sleeve and vambrace to touch up the cut on his arm, tending to himself now that Alaine was bandaged.

She wrapped the bandages around the cuts on his legs, which was the part of his body that had the most injuries thanks to the unconventional design of the armor, which had forgone most of the protection that should have covered his legs. "What did you have in mind when you commissioned this, anyway?"

"Inspired by the ultimate beast. One of my great monsters I summon in battle, when things become most dire."

Alaine sighed, barely resisting the urge to face palm. "Not what I meant. Was there any particular function you had in mind for it?" She ran a hand down one thigh. "You sacrificed protection on your legs in favor of mobility, from the looks of it."

He considered for a bit. "Maybe I could use more armor plates on the thighs..." He finally admitted.

"Just...take care, Christian." Her voice was soft as she spoke, her eyes lingering on the bloodstains scattered over the leather beneath the armor.

"I will. You as well."

"Of course." She turned around and began walking back towards the coach.

Christian sighed and went back to the carriage as well to put the bandage away again.

Some hours later, they finally made it to Canterbury, though the sun was starting to set by the time this happened. As long a day as it had been, Alaine was mulling over the idea of infiltrating the Harpy's stronghold during the night and dueling her then. Of course, even with such a bold plan, there were still steps that needed to be taken first.

Christian seemed to want to leave her to her efforts, though this time he didn't have an excuse of looking through local troops.

It would be some hours later when she came back to him, having already made her rounds. Naturally, her feet were aching when she came back to the campsite he had made that was positioned so that it wasn't too far from the town but not too close either.

Christian looked up curiously, but didn't ask.

She silently set up her bedroll and lay down on her back, looking up towards the stars.

Christian actively avoided entering into "battle space" with the city, keeping his spells hidden so that it would be unlikely if a face up trap could be seen... let alone the face downs he used.

"So...why do you want the Red Rose Cards?" Alaine inquired, mostly to make conversation.

"Gathering them will allow me to restore my lineage to honor and power." Christian said, gazing into a far off distance.

"Restore...You speak of a Pact of Glory."

"I do." Christian said, focusing his gaze on her.

"So your supporting Richard III is merely a means to an end." She stated as she returned his gaze.

"I am a mercenary." Was his only reply.

"Of course." Alaine reached into her chemise, pulling out a finely wrought chain bearing two pendants. The first was one of her family's badges, a Kaiser Dragon encircling a white rose. The second pendant was her own personal seal: a wild rose and briar set between the golden wings of a Kaiser Dragon. As she looked at each, she couldn't help recalling her father's words when he had given her the tokens. "Give it to the right person..."

Christian went back to ignoring her, figuring she had said all she would say on the subject, and instead he studied the sky, as though looking for winged spies.

After a few moments, she quietly rose from her bedroll and joined him at the campfire.

Christian seemed to be thinking about something as he sat there, watching the skies with an expression that could be described as worried... if it wasn't so blanked.

Seeing his right hand was currently laying outspread on his bedroll, she quietly reached for her seal, taking it off the chain and slipping it under his hand before she looked to the skies once again.

He glanced at his hand then over at her. "What is this for?" He asked.

"A token of my affections." She replied, still gazing skyward.

He seemed to consider it for several minutes before speaking up. "I have nothing to give you in return." He finally said.

"Then I shall simply wait until you do." She looked at him then. "Of course it's...it's not just a simple token. It's my personal seal and Duelist's sigil." The Duelist's sigil was, of course, a personalized coat of arms that each Duelist took on upon completing the trials to become one. Among some circles it was whispered that knowing of such a mark was tantamount to learning the duelist's secret/true name but these whispers were unconfirmed.

"I would give to you something just as important, if I had such on me." Christian said, reaching out to take her hand.

She reached out for his hand as well. "It's strange...We've only been traveling together for several weeks but I've come to feel that I can trust you, no matter what comes our way. And even though my brain keeps reminding me that taking you as a suitor is not wise, my feelings only grow stronger."

"As do mine." He said softly.

Alaine slowly leaned in closer, caught between wanting to resist the allure of a kiss and wanting to give in to it.

He watched her as she came closer, before finally leaning in to meet her kiss.

Her soft lips gently pressed into his own, one hand moving to rest on his shoulder as she moved into his arms.

His arm wrapped about her in an embrace and he kissed her deeply, pushing back against her even as she climbed into his arms, his lap.

Inwardly she cursed at the chest plate, which he still wore; plate mail was hardly conducive to cuddling in the first place and the unconventional design even more so. Still, she didn't pull away from the kiss, her arms eventually moving to wrap around his neck. She only managed it with one, given that the wing was in the way.

He seemed to become aware of the armor in their way. "We shouldn't." He finally said, though not firmly.

"I simply wanted an embrace...but you're right. We shouldn't." She didn't pull away from his lap though, simply resting her head on his left shoulder.

"You have your attack to carry out still." He noted, "And what will go beyond that. We should not be simply surrendering to each other this soon."

She nodded, not adding that this wasn't the best place to do it anyway, being right at the enemy's doorstep. "I suppose you have a plan to get through the city unnoticed?"

He gave her a look. "You don't?"

"I do. But I'm wondering if you've anything yourself."

"I don't really need to be in town, nor do I need to remain unnoticed, as I am currently a supporter of the ruling government. I should be able to march through unmolested."

"Christian...That town is under Tudor control. It might be best if you go in disguise. Especially since word on the street has it that Lady Beaufort has wanted to get back at you for barring her son from his own lands."

"Just because I should be able to, doesn't mean I feel the need to try." Christian noted.

"I just...If she gets her hands on you, torture will certainly be in store for you. The idea of you getting hurt..." Alaine trailed off, looking down at her lap.

Christian gave her that look and shook his head.

"So meet you on the other side then." Alaine stated as she realized her worries were baseless.

"Now we're back to the question of you having a plan." He said.

"Same plan as before: sneaking in and challenging them to a duel. It's why I went into the town earlier: to get an idea of my surroundings and to look into ways to infiltrate the castle."

"And you have found such ways?"

She nodded, pulling out a detailed plan of the city's layout from her pouch and spreading it out on the ground, which outlined several paths that could be taken to the castle whether through the streets, under them or via the rooftops.

Christian looked over her plan, though he didn't seem to think she really should be sharing it with him so blatantly.

Well, she only shared part of it: she hadn't told him which of the outlined paths she would take, after all. Alaine studied the plan one more time before rolling it up and putting it back in her pouch. "I'm thinking I'll keep watch tonight." The Rose Duelist said as she sat down on her bedroll before feeding the fire more wood.

"If you wish." Christian shrugged. He'd still be getting up regularly at watch hours, since his body was programmed that way anyway.

She kept him company throughout the night, only taking her leave before daybreak to get started on her business.

* * *

OMGGG THEY KISSED THEY FINALLY KISSED ABOUT FREAKIN' TIME-*calms down* Sorry about that XD

**Prydain**: Welsh name for England. And since it's mentioning a harpy you can all probably guess who the Harpy is.

**Duelist's Sigil**: It's basically like a calling card or some other form of identification in Dueling circles. I'm not certain I'll stick with the Duelist's Sigil = Secret Name idea to be honest.

**A/N 1**: Technically, the Poitiers don't even have such a badge among their imagery but the Kaiser Dragon encircling a rose has always been a fixture in my head when it came to the plot of this story. Ever since coming across it via fusion in the game, I've pretty much viewed it as the 'totem' summons of my take on the Rose Duelist/PC.

As always, feedback is welcome!


	6. Canterbury (The Third Rose)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**A/N**: So...interesting note on this scene: it's not in the transcript. Me and JW% were running a blank on how to go about this particular duel because Christian wasn't in it and therefore I'd be rping with myself. Eventually we decided to gloss over it (like all the other duels so far *is shot*) and move on with a little footnote as to what happened. Even then, I was still unsatisfied with that because this story is also influenced, to an extent, by my playthroughs of the game, where Margaret was a challenging opponent if you play Yorkist side before Lancastrian (which I tended to do because Christian. Don't judge me.). In the original transcript things went much more differently but I digress. On to the fic!

* * *

It had been simple, if somewhat nauseating, child's play to sneak into the castle via the city's sewer system. Alaine wasn't quite sure why she chose the sewers but it probably had to do with the idea that no one would expect her to go through that trouble simply to sneak inside. On the upside, at least there were spells she could use to ensure the refuse-filled tunnels wouldn't leave their mark, whether it was stench or disease.

The castle itself was a more challenging matter but not beyond her. It would have been simpler, she knew, to summon a Wallshadow: the creature's ability would allow her to travel through the walls undetected, even by other duelists. There were two reasons why she hadn't resorted to this trick just yet. For starters, Margaret had likely heard about the defeats suffered by two of her peers by now, and would be extra vigilant, perhaps even going as far as to place down spells that would alert her as to the presence of a summoned beast the moment Alaine called it forth into this world. The Rose Duelist knew the Harpy of Prydain wouldn't be like the first two opponents and was already treating her as such.

The second reason was more selfish and impractical on Alaine's part: she loved challenges, reveled in the opportunity to test her skills and surpass her limits. In her eyes, the easy solution did not truly test you or your capabilities. This was the main reason for her sneaking about the castle corridors, going to great extents to conceal herself physically and magically from anyone's notice. For the most part, this wasn't too difficult: Alaine had learned how to move in silence, from placing her toes first on the ground with every step she took, to moving in a way that her clothes did not rustle. She had even resorted to suppressing her Duelist's aura as she quietly trailed after the residues of Margaret's aura signature, which manifested as streams of Imperial Purple in her Sight.

Of course, even with all this, there was still the one insurmountable complication: the stigmata. The Gods-inflicted punishment would not be denied, slowly seeping through the multiple layers of bandages with every step she took. Its progress was slowed because of her sneaking but hardly stopped. Thanks to a spell, blood would not be leaking through her boots, certainly not while she was in the castle.

Even so, it was hard going, taking all her training and discipline to not cry out when Alaine stepped too hard on the stone floors, to simply _ignore_ the invisible blades piercing through her flesh. Still, she continued on, moving throughout the castle almost like a wraith, only the Rose Duelist lacked invisibility and the power to move through solid surfaces.

_I may be a Divine Duelist but I am not without limits._ She thought as she quickly ducked behind a wall just before some guards walked past, remaining completely still while holding her breath. The thought was colored with a tinge of anticipation: more challenges waiting to be overcome.

Even with all these thoughts running through her brain, Alaine hasn't lost focus of her mission, still attentive to her surroundings. The streams of purple teasing her vision glow brighter; Margaret Beaufort is close by, perhaps even on this very hallway. Very briefly, Alaine's thoughts stray to Christian, wondering how he's faring on his roundabout journey to bypass the city. Just as quickly, she pushes these thoughts away, refocusing on her goal: Margaret Beaufort and her Red Rose Card.

Finally, she finds her in a room at the end of the hallway. As she enters, Alaine's eyes are presented with what appears to be a salon: everything from the clear tall windows, the sheer lacy drapes embroidered with fanciful patterns that form an intricate interplay of light and shadows upon the tiled floor, the plush furniture…all of it speaks to her of a place meant for recreation and light conversation. In her mind's eye, she takes a moment to envision Lady Beaufort surrounded by courtiers; perhaps a troubadour or two, as they discuss some bit of poetry, a book or what have you. After a few seconds, Alaine breathes in and begins walking towards the woman standing by one of the windows. Everything about her, from the cut and cloth of her dress to her posture and looks, is striking to look upon nor can the Rose Duelist deny the existence of her grace and regal air as the woman turns to regard her.

Grey eyes meet with amethyst and silence seems to stretch for an eternity before the Harpy finally breaks it with her voice. "So you are the Rose Duelist who gave a sound thrashing to two of our best." It is a statement rather than a question as the woman begins walking towards her, seeming to _glide_ across the tiled floor before stopping right in front of Alaine. She doesn't take long to respond, flashing a smile as she performs a bow while peering at Margaret from beneath her hood.

"Indeed, that would be me, Lady Beaufort."

It goes without saying she is using her masculine voice. The older woman raises an eyebrow, then lets out a deep chuckle. "Very convincing, but you may drop the mask now, little duelist; I will not be fooled by it." Margaret cannot see the frown gracing Alaine's lips behind her muffler but after a few seconds she hears a soft sigh of resignation.

"As you wish." The Rose Duelist replies in her real voice, dropping the masculine facade.

"I've heard much about you from my colleagues. They say your skills fit the title." Alaine's lips quirked into a slight smirk.

"I should hope so. Otherwise I'd never get this job done."

Margaret returned the smirk, her expression becoming imperious as she faced down the Rose Duelist. "In that case, allow me to propose a variation to the Duel."

Alaine perked up in curiosity, wondering what the Harpy had in mind. "Of course. Let's hear it."

The amethyst eyes glitter with a light of cunning mischief as they lock with the grey-eyed gaze of the Rose Duelist. "I will be the first to admit the odds are unfair: so unfair that my son and his peers would cry foul, even though they curse you for betraying us. While I can't say I'm not disappointed, it was your decision to make in the end, and I shall abide by that." The fair-haired Countess pushes back a lock of hair away from her face. "The variation is simple: save for one monster and your spells, the rest of your summons go to the graveyard. That monster will serve as your only defense against my own monsters. If your spirit still stands strong against the onslaught, then I will choose one of my monsters to pit against yours in a final confrontation."

Alaine doesn't answer right away, letting the silence slowly stretch between them as she considers the proposition. Eventually, she does ask a question. "Would that be all?"

"That is, indeed, all."

"Consider me game." As she speaks, she moves her wrists, causing the hidden blades in her braces to slide out even as her eyes start to move rapidly, a visual sign that she has discarded all her monsters—yes, even her beloved Kaiser Dragons—save for one to the graveyard. Still, she doesn't to attack Margaret, waiting for the older woman to retrieve weapons of her own for the battle to come. The Countess has gone over to one of the window seats and crouches down in front of one of the panels. Alaine can't see what she's doing but she hears a soft _click_ as the panel lifts up to reveal a hollow interior.

When Margaret rejoins her at the center, she's carrying a sword and a buckler rather than the barbed whip Alaine expected. On the one end, she's slightly disappointed that her opponent doesn't carry her namesake's weapon while on the other, she applauds the woman's good sense: whips, while they could be used in combat, were torture instruments. For a moment, the two women look at each other, gauging their chances of victory even as they start to circle along the floor. Alaine is the first to break the silence, lifting her right hand to the air while the left moves to unsheathe the sword hanging by her hip. The light streaming through the windows catches on the hidden blade, and the steel flashes like a bright star.

"Time to duel."

That is Margaret's only warning as Alaine surges forward, her shadow extending behind her of its own accord as a muscled violet-skinned arm reaches out of the strange void, fumbling about for a proper grip before it finds one and starts pulling itself out. The arm is soon followed by a head, sporting a strange expression of a grin crossed with a grimace that is perpetually frozen on its face. The wings on its back are comically disproportioned with the rest of its body but it does not take away from the awe-struck terror the demonic creature inspires.

_It will take all I have to defeat her,_ the Countess thinks, gritting her teeth as her Harpy Lady Sisters rush to attack Alaine's Swordstalker, following her express command to wear him down by flanking him rather than a direct confrontation; otherwise it would only result in their doom. _But it might not be enough,_ she amends as the golden sword cuts the ginger-haired sister in half.

For both women, it turns out to be a long duel.

* * *

**A/N**: In DotR, Swordstalker becomes an effect monster; when flipped face-up in battle the attack points of monsters in the graveyard gets added on to its own. Technically, the duels here aren't even mirroring the gameplay interface (though I will say the Duelists probably picture their summons and spells in card form as a visual aid), as the Duelists summon the monsters through the mental bonds they share with them.

**Margaret Beaufort**: Mai's incarnation in this time period, which is kind of hilarious in hindsight considering that this would make her _Yugi's_ mother in this lifetime. It gets even more hilarious and awkward if you add the very real probability that she's involved with Joey's incarnation, Christopher Urswick. Which makes her a cougar. That said, this is mostly silly and harmless headcanon on my part and no real disrespect is meant towards the late Countess of Richmond and Derby. I'd also like to add I picture her as this 'Matriarch behind the throne' character, somewhat like Olenna Tyrell from Game of Thrones.

As always, feedback is appreciated!


	7. The Road from Canterbury

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, as well as some other concepts in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz  
Location: Skype**

* * *

Christian himself sent a message, and then headed away from the city, traveling around through the forest to avoid the city.

A message was sent back, agreeing to meet at the edge of the forest when her business was concluded. And while she did prevail over the harpy, additional conditions in the duel meant Alaine could only use one monster plus herself along with her spells to attack and counter Margaret's onslaught, so by the time she arrived at the meeting place, many parts of her clothes were shredded, the wounds on her body reflecting the toll the duel took on her spirit, and being supported by the monster she had summoned to her aid: a Swordstalker.

Christian hurried over to her to help her as she left. "We should leave I think." He said, surprised that she had made it this far without somebody else attacking her.

"I'm practically on the verge of collapsing..." She whispered as she dismissed the Swordstalker, somewhat surprised she had been able to keep it for so long despite her drained spiritual stamina.

Christian came up and scooped her into his arms and lifted, carrying her back to the carriage. "We need to leave." He repeated, placing her in the seat where she could get some rest.

Alaine managed a nod then passed out just as he placed her on the seat.

They rode away as quickly as possible, with Christian summoning creatures of his own to aid them in their flight.

While Margaret had sent out many of her monsters to try and stop them, they failed when pitted against Christian's. Eventually, they slowed down once they had put many miles between themselves and Canterbury.

Christian continued, slowing once he felt secure they weren't still in danger, heading onward to the next location.

Eventually, he stopped at a small village for the night, which was around the time that Alaine finally stirred from her deep sleep and climbed out of the carriage.

"Feeling better?" Christian asked, handing her something to eat.

"Yes..." She took the offered meal and began to eat it, doing her best not to wolf it down even though she felt ravenous.

"I arranged a meeting with my brother." Christian said. "I'll be able to give you a token to match the one you gave me." He seemed perfectly content as to how her operation went.

She didn't respond to that right away, more concerned with eating the food. Once she finished, Alaine looked at him. "Where shall we meet him?"

"The next village over." Christian said.

"Alright then." She still felt out of sorts, mainly because while her body was rested her spirit still needed to recover from the duel. However, Alaine did not raise the subject. "I suppose he's your squire or something of the sort, then."

"Yes. He was holding our crests while I went to deal with Simon, and... Well now I deal with you."

"You say it like that's a bad thing." Alaine said, teasing him.

"You do tend to get yourself in trouble."

"But I get myself out of it. Usually." The duel with Margaret had actually been her first close shave in this situation.

"And then I have to bandage you up again." He noted. "Which you need to have replaced."

"That is true." She admitted, looking down towards her boot-covered feet.

"I've arranged for a..." He looked around the village. "Well, perhaps bath is putting it too strongly. For water to clean you off, in the Inn... actually calling it a proper inn might be putting it too strongly as well."

"A bath does sound nice..." She said as she rose from her seat and gathered her things. "Lead the way."

Christian led her into the so called 'inn' and up to their room where an old half barrel was laid out with water.

It wasn't what she was used to but at the moment Alaine did not care and simply dropped her pack in a corner before she began to undress. She really should have given Christian a warning, at the very least.

Christian made himself scarce as she undressed, with a number of fresh bandages beside the tub for when she was done.

When she came out, she was looking more like the woman he had seen that morning than the one she had been when they left Canterbury. As for Alaine, she was happy to have caught him at a moment when he was unarmored...though that was probably because he was polishing it.

Christian looked up as he stroked the cloth over his armor and noted her with great interest.

She went over to sit on one of the beds, reaching for something within her doublet and pulling out the three Red Rose Cards. She gently laid them down on the bed, noting how their soft glow brightened when in proximity to other Rose Cards.

"Studying your prizes?" Christian asked.

"Somewhat...Mostly I'm just recalling what I've learned about them."

"What have you learned about them?" Christian asked curiously, setting up his armor to walk over to the bed beside her.

"Well...it's likely much of it is speculation but some of the information does add up. You recall that in order to use the Cards you must have a duel first, yes? As I understand it, the reason for that is because the cards are connected to the Morrighan. The battle is a tribute, given in exchange for using these relics."

"I see..." Christian said cagily, as though this either was, or was not, news to him.

"The roses though...That's a new feature. They originally did not feature such a facade. Of course, they didn't have a Card shape back then either."

"Stone tablets perhaps... I'm not sure I can explain the roses."

"Hmm...At any rate, that shows they can adapt and change their form. Which is handy; it'd be difficult trying to transport sixteen stone slabs..."

"I wonder if they'd someday become something like coins or something..."

"It's happened. Though in that particular instance they were jewels at the time, not coins."

"Interesting... though not really applicable."

"Not right now at least..." She picked up one of the cards, gazing at it hard for several seconds before closing her eyes in concentration. At first, nothing seemed to happen but then the card slowly began to change in shape, taking on the form of a crimson jeweled raven.

"That seems even more conspicuous than the card." Christian noted.

"It is. I just wanted to see if I could change the shape. It's harder than it looks." Alaine then somehow _crumpled_ the jewel as though it were nothing more than paper before spreading it out flat on the bed. Almost instantly, the material restored itself back into its original shape before the raven.

Christian just raised an eyebrow and didn't comment.

She decided to stop messing around with the Rose Cards and put them away. "So...this brother of yours...What's he like?" She inquired as she looked over to him.

"He hasn't grown as tall as I have." Christian noted. "And with darker hair..."

"How old is he though?"

"Several years younger than I. I hope he grows into a suitable warrior... we left our father together to become this mercenary unit after I was passed in the line of succession."

"Hmm...I see." Pause. "Well, I won't ask for details on that count...Seems a bit too personal."

"Perhaps." He noted. "And you?"

"Well...I introduced myself as de France but my family name is de Poitiers. Of course, due to certain decisions made by an ancestor, we no longer hold the claim we once did over France. As for me...well, I'm the youngest, with my older brother Stefan being the one to inherit our ancestral lands in Aquitaine. And I...well, if my parents were less supportive, I'd probably be trapped in a loveless marriage where all I'm good for is being shown off and bearing children..." As she spoke she couldn't quite hide the bitterness and resentment she felt towards such a situation.

Christian nodded. "And the cards?"

She actually looked uncomfortable for a moment. "In the words of Jeanne D'arc: _C'est pour cela que je suis née_..."

Again his eyebrow rose. "Oh?"

"I was born for this: I was born to be Their Hand where They could no longer influence the world the way They used to. I mean...I'm not the only one but...!" Alaine broke off then, quickly turning her back to Christian so that he wouldn't the tears starting to form in her eyes.

"And your parents are supportive of this... or because of this?"

"I think they would have been supportive even without that... I like to think that is the case...I _hope_ that is the case." Pause. "It was reported that there were strange markings on my back when I was born. The midwife, who knew a bit about the Old Ways, said I was...Chosen. And that it would be best for all involved to not get in the way of that Fate."

"Fate..." Christian said darkly, and let the matter drop.

She didn't bring it up again herself. Of course this new information offered Christian some perspective on why she chose to side with him: he offered her the freedom to choose where the other side only talked of how she was supposed to follow their convenient script.

Christian seemed to trail off quietly, looking away silently.

Alaine soon wiped her tears and left the room, deciding to go out of the inn and find some way to work off her bad mood.

Christian got up to follow her, discreetly, worried about what she would do. And about how she was leaving bloody prints on the floor.

He found her taking out her frustrations on an old tree, its bark already marked with blurred streaks of blood from her kicks as she practiced her hand to hand kata on it.

Christian watched from a distance as she worked out her anger, wondering just how functional that style of fighting could be. Particularly with her feet already bleeding.

Eventually she stopped after one foot simply slid off the bloodstained trunk. Alaine stood still, her hands clenched into fists as she glared at the physical signs of her punishment. Granted, it was a choice she would never regret making but...it said a lot about the world when you were punished simply for not conforming to someone's expectations.

Christian came up behind her as she stood still, reaching out to wrap his arms around her in a reasonably comforting way.

Alaine leaned back against him, letting him wrap his arms around her. "I...I beg your pardon for breaking down like that. It won't happen again, I swear it."

"There's nothing to forgive." Christian said softly in her ear as he hugged her from behind.

"Christian..." She glanced back at him, her eyes appearing almost silver in the dark.

"Alaine." He replied, holding her gently about the waist, letting her feel his breath on her neck.

"You know...I'm a little surprised you still want me after...that revelation."

"And why would you be surprised about that?"

"Well...I just can't help but think no one would want anything to do with me after learning that..."

"After learning what? I saw nothing wrong..." He gave her belly a little poke to show he was teasing her. "Except that you were bloodying the tree with your feet."

"S-stop that, it tickles...!" A giggle stumbled out of her throat as he poked her.

"Maybe we should head back to our room. I could finish bandaging your feet."

"Alright..." She said as she turned around to head back to the inn.

As she turned she felt his hands going down behind her legs to pick her up and carry her in.

She opened her mouth to raise an objection but the look in his eyes told her he wouldn't have any of that so Alaine let the protest die in her lips as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Christian carried her back up to their shared room, giving the inn keeper a little explanation about "binding wounds" to keep them away.

It would have been marginally amusing had she kept her hooded cloak and muffler on and be mistaken for a man but since she didn't have those, her hairstyle gave her away and Christian didn't get any weird looks because he was suspected of sodomy. It probably helped that he looked intimidating as he gave the explanation.

Christian managed to get her upstairs and onto the bed before he started to look for the bandages.

She began to remove her boots as she waited, wondering if it would be best to use one of her spells to destroy the bandages.

"I rather wish that we could use _Goblin Remedy_ or something to fix this..." Christian muttered, getting a wet cloth to wash her feet first.

"It will simply come back." Not to mention that it was a spell named after goblin herbal remedies; one had to question the effectiveness of such things.

"Magic against magic..." Christian noted.

"Not just that. It will stay until I'm done with this: getting the rose cards and taking them back to their resting place."

He looked a little guilty as she said that... of course he was 'accidentally' starting to massage her feet as he cleaned them.

She closed her eyes and leaned back, enjoying the massage. At one point she stretched out one foot, accidentally brushing it against his thigh.

He let out a similarly pleasured sound, though soft and slight, as her foot brushed against his thigh. "Even discounting your wounds, you seem rather... sensitive."

"Well, I've been putting up with a lot of pain in that area...Did you...moan just now?"

"No." He answered, probably a bit too quickly.

She raised an eyebrow then slowly ran her clean foot over his thigh again.

He made a soft sigh, though it was hard to tell if it was pleasure, or frustration.

She hadn't lifted her foot from his thigh and slowly dragged it up higher before gently pressing it down on his crotch.

His breath caught. "Now you're getting... rather intimate with your touch."

"And from what I can tell, _you_ don't seem to mind." Alaine replied as she lifted her foot, having felt his shaft growing stiff beneath the fabric.

He caught her ankle and brought it away from his more sensitive places. "I mind." He said firmly, though not too upset.

"Of course." For good or bad, she didn't move her foot there again, simply focusing on enjoying the massage.

He went back to giving her a proper massage, but kept mindful of where she was putting her feet, and that he didn't want to take this so far, so fast... He felt like he was using her to gather the cards for him, and he was not going to apologize for that.

Alaine was looking away from him now, fixated on a random spot on the wall as he massaged her feet. She knew he intended to use the cards for his own agenda and that she was his main venue towards getting them all. Knowing that, she couldn't deny the strong emotions that surged in response to thoughts of him. And while certainly her dreams of past lives played some minute role in that, they weren't the basis for it. That he decided she was worth the trouble of courting even after her back story reveal had shown Alaine that falling for this man was not a mistake. All the same, the doubts persisted.

"There... how's that?" He asked, as he bandaged her foot again. More in preparation for it to bleed when she walked than anything else.

She looked it over, carefully flexing her feet and moving them about to test how well they held in movement. "It's good. Thank you."

"Right." He agreed. "I assume you'll want the bed tonight."

"Help yourself. I'm not sleeping tonight."

"Why not?"

"Not tired. I slept throughout the entire ride remember?" This was true, though that wasn't the real reason.

"You were injured." He pointed out. "You'll still need rest even now that you've recovered."

"I'll be fine." She insisted, already starting to get off of the bed.

"You're sure?" The fact that he was offering her the bed instead of telling her to sleep on the floor alone showed that he cared for her.

She backed up, pulling her feet up onto the bed rather than stepping off of it. "Where will you sleep?" She asked, still intending to stay up all night.

"I was thinking the bed, if you're not using it." He said dryly.

Alaine looked the bed over for a few seconds, deciding it was big enough for both of them as she scooted towards the far end. Once she reached it, she looked over to him and patted the empty space. "Plenty of room for two; sleeping on hardwood floors has nothing to recommend it."

Christian looked around. "To be honest, I wouldn't suggest the bedding here either." But he shrugged and climbed into bed with her.

"Perhaps but it's better than the floor." Alaine replied as she watched him snuff out the candle on the nightstand by his side of the bed.

Christian just lay there, trying to sleep.

She watched over him as he drifted off to sleep, managing to stay up for a good while before tiredness won out and she drifted off to sleep beside him.

* * *

**A/N 1**: Obviously, Alaine won the duel against Margaret. That said, it was more of a 'by the skin of her teeth' victory than she would have liked, given her physical (and spiritual) state when she met up with Christian.

**The Rose Cards**: Finally, I get to share my WMG regarding these things! (*victory dance*) In earlier chapters, I mentioned that the Rose Cards required a battle. I posit this is because they were mystical relics either created by the Morrighan or strongly associated with her. She is one of many Celtic War Goddesses so naturally, a Duel is the price to be paid when trying to acquire the Rose Cards. While the rose insignias aren't associated with Morrighan or Celtic mythos in general, the colors certainly are: while most of the contemporary cast are of the belief that red and white represent Lancaster and York, red was the Celtic color of mourning and the Morrighan was described as having this hair color and wearing garments of it. The color white is associated with the other world (to use an example: white hounds with red ears and mouths were creatures of this other world and associated with the Wild Hunt).

On a side note, the tidbit about the Rose Cards having been jewels once is a reference to the Jewel Beasts back story in GX.

**A/N 2 (The Jeanne D'Arc line)**: A powerful statement, though in this instance Alaine uses it to show her resentment at being a Chosen One. Overall, Divine Duelists live as they please but when duty calls, they must answer or be compelled to action. For Alaine in particular, who treasures freedom and independence, it must be extremely galling and painful to know that she is ultimately a pawn of the gods.

So somewhere along the way Christian's gotten a foot fetish. In the first version, I was surprised when this wormed its way into their character dynamic but looking back on it now, it's really not that shocking, particularly when factoring in Christian's reaction to her taking his side in spite of it.

Anyway, feedback is appreciated!


	8. Between Canterbury and Dover

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, Mokuba's Medieval incarnation, and concepts/ideas shown in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz, Hans Rosenkreuz  
Location: Skype**

* * *

Christian slept the night, awakening for his turn at watch (needed or not) as always.

This despite any alarm 'face downs' placed at their door or near the inn. Alaine shivered in her sleep, the draft in the room threatening to rouse her from sleep she needed along with the dreams playing out in her mind at that moment.

Noticing her shiver Christian placed another blanket on her.

She stopped shivering and slept on...until her hand fell on the empty space beside her. Alaine opened her eyes then and sat up, peering at his form in the darkness in the darkness before quietly wrapping the blanket around herself and scooting over to where he was sitting.

Christian glanced over at her, wondering why she was up, but not asking, since he was up as well. He hadn't really left the bed when he had awakened, just sat up to look around and momentarily 'test' the face downs.

"It's hard to sleep easy during wartime." She whispered as she moved over to sit by his side, resting her head on his shoulder as her eyes gazed out into the dark, not really taking anything in yet seeing everything as she allowed her Inner Sight to expand.

Christian didn't respond as she rested against his shoulder, letting her take everything in, to check the field and her hand and her deck...

It didn't take too long, and Alaine heaved a sigh as she finished checking on all that. She was practically snuggling against him by this point but so far he hadn't pushed her away.

Christian leaned back into the bed, pulling her with him. He didn't really force her to lay snuggled as he tried to drop back to sleep, but he certainly encouraged it.

His body had practically shifted to fit against her own like a mold. Likely it was unintentional but Alaine didn't object, soon falling asleep in his arms.

It would be a little before dawn when Alaine would wake up again, and then only because of a nightmare. It was obviously a memory-dream and from what she could remember, it had shown the death of whoever she might have been then. Alaine could still recall the city sinking into the storm-tossed seas, as well as the three dragons flying away from it before the waters closed over her... She shut her eyes and shook her head a little in an attempt to calm down her racing heart.

Christian awakened at the dawn, perhaps slightly before, knowing they would need to continue on.

When he woke up, Alaine was already shrugging on her chainmail and the surcoat that went over that, the leather jerkin being the last item she put on before collecting her weapons, cloak and muffler. She made sure to avoid eye contact, not wanting him to see the haunted light in her eyes as she headed towards the door.

He did likewise, though unsure of the reason why. Perhaps it had been the spending of time together in the bed... their first time to sleep that closely together instead of in separate bedrolls. By the time he was dressed and eating what breakfast the road house supplied for a few minor coins, he had considered that perhaps she had expected something more intimate of him... something he didn't feel ready to give, as she would be heading off to battle without him once they reached Dover.

In truth, she hadn't expected it of him though it would be a lie to say she didn't want it. At the moment, Alaine was more preoccupied with the battles to come as well as trying to shake off the feeling of unease that had settled over her person like a shroud because of the dream. Memory-dream or no, nightmares were never pleasant, and ones where you (or someone very much like you but not) died were even worse. That in turn would lead to her being hyper-vigilant when they took off for the next village, keeping an eye and ear out for ambushes that might not have been there but the possibility remained: they were at war, after all.

Alaine wasn't the only one who remained vigilant as they traveled. Christian too was watching out for further ambushes. They had already encountered one, and it would only grow more perilous as they went further.

Finally, they do get ambushed. Common brigands and highwaymen. The cry Alaine lets out is one of mixed relief and frustration as she leaps off Chanson to take the fight to them: relief because now she has an outlet to get rid of her unease. Frustration because these scum of the earth are delaying her from her goal. She lands in between two and immediately her arms stretch out to their unprotected necks, the hidden blades sliding out from her bracers to deal them a quick death before moving on to other opponents.

Christian battled more with boasts and fists, making it clear that he was indeed carrying a sword, and that he indeed could do more to them, but that he didn't need to. His armor seemed to suitably protect him from most glancing blows, and he was nimble enough to close and strike rather powerful gauntleted blows while shouting derisive comments about how each brigand was a disappointment to him, to the British Isles, and to their own mothers who may or may not know who their father was.

Eventually, the brigands get smarter: they start to avoid attacking him. Unfortunately, they weren't smart enough because they decide to focus their attacks on his companion, who is not as armored as he, not as intimidating (though certainly deadly with the weapons they are currently wielding) and by that logic, easier to take down. Unfortunately for them, Alaine isn't entirely against a battle at that moment...

It also meant that Christian just seemed to grow angrier with them, and was more than willing to clot them on the head from behind, particularly if they were focusing on Alaine. Not that Christian stopped with the verbal abuse, if anything he went to chastising them on such dishonorable conduct for changing their tactics. He also demonstrated that he was able to strike an archer with a smooth river worn stone hard enough to knock the man from his tree branch perch and split his forehead open. "And you should see me skip it across a pond!"

"Really...?" That last remark took a lot of bite from the insult but Alaine was too busy fighting with one of the taller brigands to comment further. This man was practically a giant, reminiscent more of a Viking in stature. He was one of the few wielding a proper, well-maintained weapon: a war axe with a particularly broad blade. Alaine had already cut him in several places but she hadn't had the chance to make a fatal stab because the man was keen on preventing her from getting that opportunity.

"I was getting sick of batting away his poorly aimed arrows." Christian said. "And he certainly needed a stronger pull on the bow string; I could almost catch those weak quarrels. Hey, you think that getting beat by a girl is going to make you any mightier, big guy? You should have faced your defeat at my hands instead of hiding your face from me!" As he said this he walked up to the giant and tried to grab the man by the collar. Which involved reaching up.

The large man simply leaned back, avoiding the grab. "So cocksure." A pause as he looked Alaine over again, seeing her in a new and decidedly unsavory light. "Once I beat this fool, you'll have to keep us company. For killing some of my men, you see." He declared as he smacked her hard with the flat of his axe blade, the shock practically rendering her right arm numb and causing Alaine to stumble back.

"Hardly chivalrous of you, treating the lady like that." Christian said, pulling the man around to face him, and staying within the range of the axe blade. "But then I wouldn't expect any of you to have enough manhood between your legs to bother with chivalry."

"You call that a lady? That wench doesn't know her place...which me and my men will be sure to remind her of." The man advanced on him, trying for a swing at Christian's legs.

Christian caught the low swing with a grab on the man's arm and by planting his armored boot on the haft of the axe, effectively stopping it and putting all his weight on the mans weapon as he leaned in. Of course this only was to get him into position to give the giant a gauntlet armored backhand across the face. "I'll be the one reminding everyone of their place." Christian corrected the man.

The man stumbled back, reeling from the blow. Just as he was about to recover, Alaine suddenly leaped onto his back, barely hanging on with her still-recovering right arm while stabbing into the side of his neck with the left hidden blade. The brigand dropped like a stone, still clutching his war axe as he hit the ground face first. The few highwaymen that remained took that as their cue to flee, wanting nothing more to do with these two warriors.

Christian put his hands on his hips, having stepped just barely far enough aside that the giant did no more than scratch himself on Christian's shoulder armor as he fell. "That was unnecessary and poor form, but at least it brought the others to know their place." He told Alaine.

"At least." She murmured, massaging at her arm as she began taking stock of her injuries.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, finding an arrow in his leather under-armor and making an effort to pull it out.

"Nothing serious." A pause as she looked over to a gash on her left calf. Not a deep wound but it was bleeding a lot. With a sigh she began walking towards the horses, intending to retrieve the roll of bandages in her saddle pack.

"Good. We've faced worse than this lot." Christian said. "I think I have an arrow head somewhere in my doublet."

"Do you need help with that?" She asked as she found the roll and began looking about for a place where she could bandage the wound. Finally, Alaine spotted a boulder not far from the road and turned towards it, unintentionally granting him a view of her bleeding calf as she walked over to it.

He winced at the sight of her blood, and walked over to help her. "I could, but let me help you. That looks awkward to bandage by yourself."

Perhaps due to the sexist remarks of the giant brigand, Alaine was seriously considering saying _no_, wanting to prove she could take care of herself. In the end, common sense won out. "That would be most appreciated."

Christian came over to her and knelt to bandage her calf. He also winced as he did so. "You...may have to reach into my outfit...the arrow head broke off and is...shifting itself inside my shirt."

She looked him over. "Straighten up and stand still." Alaine ordered as she handed him the roll of bandages.

He straightened up and held perfectly still. "I think it's gone into my pants now." He noted.

"Right." She said, working at loosening the straps on the chest plate before unbuckling his belt so she could pull down his pants. By doing so, the arrow head would simply fall to the ground. Hopefully.

"Just reach in and get it out." He told her. "It shouldn't be that hard, I just can't do it with my gauntlets on."

"...If you insist." Alaine replied, somehow keeping a straight face even though she was certain her cheeks had gone pink as she reached in, carefully feeling about his pelvis and thighs as she sought out the arrow head by touch.

"I don't think...it's there..." He said, his breath catching. "More along the outside of my hip..."

"Hmm...which one?" She inquired, her hand already moving towards his left hip.

"Left side." He said. "There...now careful, I think it's chipped flint and rather sharp."

He felt her stiffen slightly. "...Found it." Alaine picked it up with her fingers and began to slowly, carefully, pull it out of his pants.

"I'd rather not have sharp pointy things... in there." He noted.

"No one likes having sharp pointy things near their unmentionables, Christian." Alaine deadpanned as she pulled it out. Frowning at the slight nick on her thumb that she got for her troubles, she discarded the arrow head.

He leaned over and gave her hand a kiss where she had nicked her thumb. "Let's onward before any of the brigands decide they could find more sticks to throw at us poorly."

"Alright but I need to see to this wound first. And you should probably pull up your pants, good ser." She turned her back to him before he could see the blush he had drawn out of her with the kiss, taking the bandages from his hand and moving over to a tree.

He snorted at the thought, as his pants weren't down that far... just loosened enough that she could put her hand into them. He proceeded to pull them up tight, retightening the buckles.

Alaine planted her foot against the trunk of the tree, extending her leg out so she wrap the bandages around the wound. Of course, it made for an awkward position for what she was doing but it needed to be done. That and she wasn't sure she could keep her usual skin tone around Christian right now.

Christian, his armor once more properly fitted, came over to her to help brace. "I said I'd help wrap your bandage."

She handed him the roll, pointedly avoiding his gaze as she lifted her leg off the tree.

Once more he knelt to work her leg, wrapping the bandage about in an efficient expert manner of a field surgeon.

She watched him work in silence, knowing she'd have to clean that later when they stopped for the day.

"Okay, let's move." He said, getting up again once he had finished binding it.

"Right." She quickly mounted Chanson. "How long till we reach the village?"

"It depends on our travel time." Christian said.

She nodded. "Shall we increase our pace?"

"We should."

Alaine dug her heels into Chanson's sides, accelerating the mare's trot into a canter and eventually a gallop, at which point she raised herself a little on the saddle.

Christian's mount matched hers in speed. "We don't need to wear them out." He cautioned.

"I don't intend to keep her going like this throughout the entire ride." Alaine replied, keeping her eyes on the road.

Christian kept up with her, his armor and the gallop making it hard to tell if he shrugged or not.

Eventually, she began to slow down, soon slowing down to a walk so Chanson could recover.

Christian reigned in his mount as well, riding by her side.

At some point during the ride, a strong wind had blown her hood back, revealing a few stray locks of hair had escaped the braid. She didn't seem to care or even notice as she leaned forward to pat Chanson's neck.

Christian rode on beside her.

It was around late noon that they reached the village, their first stop being the local inn. It was better in quality than the last inn but that was not saying much. Alaine had barely handed the reins to the hostler when she noticed the boy dashing towards them. More specifically, towards Christian.

Christian dismounted and glanced at the boy. "Yes?"

There was a soft _clang_ as Christian was enveloped in a hug at the same time that the boy let out an excited _"Bruder!"_ It could be none other than the younger Rosenkreuz, who really did not take much after his brother, with long black hair tied back with a leather band and dark cobalt eyes. At first glance, they didn't look related; one had to look closer to spot the similarities.

"Yes?" Christian repeated himself, even though his younger brother was hanging off his neck at the time.

"...I missed you! I take it everything went well? Who's your friend?" The boy was barely giving him any chances to answer his questions while Alaine simply left him there to make arrangements for a room, if none had been made.

"That was Alaine, the Duelist of Legend." Christian told Hans, putting him down. "And everything has been going... as well as to be expected, yes. How is it going with me away? The Rose Crusaders aren't doing anything foolish I trust. Nor the King..."

"They're doing alright; Hilde's made sure that they don't do anything foolish. Last I heard, the King was on Progress while on his way to Bosworth." Hans glanced over to Alaine as she went inside, then back at him. "Oh and here's the seal, as you asked." He added, handing him over a pendant featuring a Blue Eyes White Dragon biting down on its own tail while one paw grasped a small white rose.

"Thank you." Christian said, touching where Alaine's seal was being kept. "I'll have need of it before Dover."

"Is there anything else that you require, Ser?" Hans inquired, slipping back into the professional, competent squire persona now that he had gotten over his emotional outburst at reuniting with his older brother.

Christian gave a little look around to see if anyone was looking, and then smiled at his little brother. "No. Let's see if they serve honey cakes here."

The boy smiled back and the two headed inside, where the innkeeper informed them that their companion had gone on ahead to their reserved rooms to recuperate from the trip.

Christian went on ahead to see how Alaine was doing, leaving Hans to get them all a good meal.

He found her out of her boots and pants, unwinding the bandage around her calf and standing next to a bucket of water placed on a chair with a washcloth hanging from the rim. Because she was focused on dealing with the wound, Alaine did not react as she should have in such situations, though she was certainly aware of his presence.

"May I help?" He asked, walking over to her side.

She nodded, even as her cheeks tinged pink because her legs were exposed to his sight. Technically they more or less had been before but the pants she wore were somewhat loose-fitting and did not cling to her body.

He moved to kneel down to help with her footbath. "May I?"

"You may. Although I was trying to clean off the gash on my leg..."

He knelt and started cleaning her leg, including the gash on her calf.

"He must really be fond of you, given that greeting." Alaine began, watching him as he cleaned her leg.

"My brother. Yes, I've all but adopted him..."

"It must be a challenge, trying to raise him."

"He will grow to be a good man." Christian said, starting to work her foot now that the calf was cleaned.

"I can believe that." Alaine said, her eyes closing in pleasure as he cleaned and massaged her foot.

Christian continued to massage her foot dutifully, focusing on her intently. His efforts probably would cause pain if her stigmata were an actual wound, but if it were he'd be treating her differently anyway.

Alaine sighed, thankful she had the foresight to spread out several layers of bandages over the floor so that the blood wouldn't stain the wood. "You have wonderful hands, Christian."

"And you a wonderful body. From your hair to..." He paused a moment.

She opened one eye to look at him. "To...what?"

He glanced up at her and locked with her open eye for a moment, before very slowly and deliberately leaning down to worshipfully kiss her foot.

There was a sharp intake of breath at the gesture as her other eye opened to look at him. "Christian..." Her voice had dropped to a murmur but it had acquired a slightly husky edge to it.

"Alaine..." He replied, looking up to her and meeting her eyes once more.

She gazed back at him, unsure of whether to hold back and remind him to start on the other foot or to give in to her desires then and there. Eventually, she settled for the third option. "You should start on the other foot but…perhaps later tonight we could...arrange a rendezvous?"

A gleam came to his eye. "Start bathing your other foot? Or kissing it as well?" He teased as he went to bandage her foot before putting it down.

"Um..." Her mind suddenly went blank. "Both?" The Rose Duelist asked tentatively.

He started to bathe her other foot, innocently enough. "I have something for you." He said.

"Oh?"

He was already on his knees, and so he held up to her his seal. "Now the exchange is complete, is it not?"

"It is." Alaine replied as she held out her hand to take the seal.

He watched her for a moment as she took it, considering her reaction.

She studied the seal, gently caressing the intricately crafted surface with her fingers. Shortly after, she unclasped her chain from around her neck, smiling as it went through the metal loop and the pendant slid into place along with her family's coat of arms. "I will treasure this." Alaine said as she put the chain around her neck again, slipping it under her chemise as she met his gaze.

He bound her other foot and placed it not on the floor but on the bed where it wouldn't react. "We have dinner to attend... though I look forward to a rendezvous tonight." He stood up and then paused a moment, leaning over to her. "I seem to have forgotten to kiss your other foot." He pointed out.

"I suppose you'll have to make up for that." She replied playfully as she shot him a coy look.

"I suppose so. During our rendezvous you'll have me on my knees and be telling me to kiss your foot?" He teased as he got up, offering a hand to take her downstairs for the dinner.

Alaine finished pulling on her pants and boots, making sure they were secure before taking his hand. "Frankly, I'm not sure I even need to tell you to do it."

"Well, I don't think I'll do it if you don't ask." He continued to tease.

"Sounds like I will have to get firm with you." She said, teasing him back.

"We'll see how...firm I'll be tonight as well." He teased and led her downstairs. Hans had a suitable meal set out for them.

* * *

**A/N**: In light of recent developments in character relationships, I might have to bump up the rating to R if I decide to post the following scene. I could probably pull it off with some editing (and to be honest, it's nothing too graphic at the moment) but if there's any readers uncomfortable with this type of adult content, please say so and I'll see what I can do.

**Hans Rosenkreuz**: Obviously, this is Mokuba's incarnation in this time period. In addition, while he probably won't figure that much in the general story, Noa's incarnation is also present. Headcanon name for him is Klaus Rosenkreuz. Yep, in this lifetime, the three are biological brothers. X3 I'd say more but the remaining two members of Clan Rosenkreuz are kinda story-relevant so I won't say more on them until neccessary.

**Random Trivia**: At one point while working on the last chapter I considered changing the ancestral lands of Alaine's family from Aquitaine to Anet, mostly because I liked the idea of Diane de Poitiers being a descendant of theirs (likely descended from Alaine's older brother, Stefan). But then I remembered that Diane gained Anet from her marriage to Louis de Breze and the idea was scrapped.

As always, feedback is welcome!


	9. Character Notes: Alaine de France

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, Mokuba's Medieval incarnation, and concepts/ideas shown in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: N/A  
Location: Skype**

**A/N 1**:Admittedly I'm just posting this both because sometimes I like to treat my fics like comics and put extra stuff in them and because the uploads are catching up to the end of the transcript and I want to wait a bit longer before posting more. There's also one bit I want to redo with JW% but that's a whole other story.

**A/N 2**: After this point, the story's gonna shift into a new perspective due to Alaine and Christian parting ways at Dover. While duels will _still_ be glossed over, there are at least two confrontations I'm thinking of writing down: Alaine versus Jasper Dice Tudor and Alaine versus Henry Tudor.

* * *

**Name**: Alaine de Poitiers  
**Age**: 17* (A placeholder-I've never really given her a canon age, only that I pictured her anywhere from 16-19 years old.)  
**Economic/Social Status**: Noble  
**Birthplace**: Aquitaine, France  
**Family**: Francois (father), Paulette (mother), Stefan (older brother)  
**YuGiOh RPG Job Class**: Divine Duelist* (I wasn't sure how else to include a mention of this)  
**Spirit Familiar/Deck Master**: Kaiser Dragon  
**Previous Incarnations**:*  
-Arsinoe of Atlantis: Lived around the time of Dartz's reign. A hetaera and Critias' mistress.  
-Henutawwy of Ta-ynt-netert (later Henutawwy Maatkaare): The High Priestess of Hathor during the reign of Pharaoh Atem and halfway through the reign of Pharaoh Seth-Peribsen. At some point marries him and is crowned Queen Henutawwy Maatkaare.  
-Gisila of Gaul: Queen of a Visigoth tribe in Gaul around the time the Roman Empire begins to expand. Her bodyguard Eyvindr becomes the Kaiser Dragon.

**Eye color**: Grey  
**Hair color**: Fuschia-violet with black gradients  
**Skills/Talents**: Stealth, combat, drawing, music, magic  
**Allegiance to**: Rose Crusaders  
**Random Facts**:  
-Presumably because of her insistence in not following the historical trend, she's learned how to hunt. And by that, I mean she's learned to track it down, kill it and skin the beast herself.  
-For all her tomboyish tendencies, Alaine actually likes to dress up and feel pretty; she just feels that men's clothes are so much less restraining than women's.  
-She's named some of the monsters she summons. In the original transcript, she named a Blue Eyes Toon Dragon Rosencrantz.

*There was no real need for the Previous Incarnations bit on the profile; that was me showing how much I over thought things regarding her Present Day incarnation, Theoris Takeda, for something else I'm planning. Incidentally, Takahashi never confirmed what Pharaoh in Ancient Egyptian history Priest Set was supposed to be but I always liked to think he became Seth-Peribsen.

Expect to see more of these soon while I flesh out the transcript a bit more and many thanks for reading this story!


	10. Character Notes: Christian Rosenkreuz

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, Mokuba's Medieval incarnation, and concepts/ideas shown in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: N/A  
Location: Skype**

**A/N**: Still padding out the transcript so here's more Character Notes.

* * *

**Name**: Christian Rosenkreuz  
**Age**: 17 (No canon age for him either, though I pictured him being some months older than Alaine.)  
**Economic/Social Status**: Noble (disowned), mercenary  
**Birthplace**: Nassau-Hadamar, Germany (Technically the Nassau-Hadamar princes were a dynasty and not a location...yeah)  
**Family**: Alois Rosenkreuz (father), Dagmar Rosenkreuz (mother), Klaus Rosenkreuz (middle brother), Hans Rosenkreuz (younger brother)  
**YuGiOh RPG Job Class**: Dragon Duelist  
**Spirit Familiar/Deck Master**: Blue Eyes White Dragon  
**Previous Incarnations**:*  
-Critias of Atlantis: One of the Three Knights of Atlantis, he was also a High-ranking member of its Senate and frequented the School of Philosophers on a near-daily basis. He first met Arsinoe at a symposium hosted by Timaeus and things moved on from there.  
-Priest Set: Originally the High Priest of the Thoth cult in Waset (Thebes) before he was chosen to be a member of Atem's Sacred Court, at which point he stepped down from the post. An accomplished mage, his mastery of Heka was second only to Mahaado's. Later succeeds Atem as Pharaoh Seth-Peribsen.  
-Hadrian Spada: A Roman Legionnaire sent to Gaul with the mission of anchoring Roman influence into one of its regions, if not neccesarily turning it into a Roman province. Does this by cultivating a friendship with the tribal queen that the Visigoth's tribe ruler handed over to him in exchange for keeping his throne, later falling in love with her.

**Eye color**: Blue  
**Hair color**: Med. Brown  
**Skills/Talents**: Combat, Tactics, Hunting, Administration, Rose tending, Designing Armor  
**Allegiance to**: House York  
**Random Facts**:  
-He is an armor enthusiast, and later on commissions a ceremonial suit of armor based around the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Headcanon holds that the armor he wears was made by the same armorer who crafted Christopher Urswick's commission.  
-Learned how to raise and tend roses from his mother. Sadly, he isn't interested in gardening.  
-In Dueling circles, his mother was known as the Mother of Dragons for being the sole mistress of three Blue Eyes White Dragons. He later inherited these when his education in that respect was completed.  
-It is long, drawn-out and complicated but there are implications he may be a descendant of Seth-Peribsen through one of his distant descendants (anyone remember Forbidden Memories!Set?).

* * *

Expect a new chapter very soon!- ValarSpawn


	11. Entering Dover

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, Mokuba's Medieval incarnation, and concepts/ideas shown in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz, Hans Rosenkreuz, Santiago del Mar  
Location: Skype**

**A/N**: There's a bit that's the beginnings (and endings) of an adult scene but I left out the actual adult content. I felt I should keep the dialogue in because character interaction.

* * *

They joined him at the table he singled out for them. Dinner went well, Alaine managing to not be overwhelmed by Hans' near-relentless questioning.

Christian ate well, finding the meal here better than at the previous place. And Hans's questions were only broken, most of the time, by the boy stuffing stuff in his mouth.

They finished dinner and talked for a few more minutes before Hans said he'd be turning in for the night, wishing them both a good night's rest before he went upstairs to his room. Alaine watched him go before looking over to Christian. "Rather lively, your brother."

"Energy of youth and all that." Christian shrugged.

She bit back the comment that he sounded like an old man despite being only a few years older than Hans. "Indeed." She remarked as she removed the hairpins holding up her braid, causing it to fall down to her shoulder as she leaned against the wall beside her seat.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked. "Your injuries healing?"

"They are." Alaine replied as she removed the leather band holding the braid together so she could undo it. Her motions weren't rushed, taking great care to ensure that the process didn't lead to a giant knot of hair.

"We should go up to our room." Christian suggested, looking around the hall of the inn.

She nodded and rose from the table, slipping the leather band and hairpins into a pocket as she headed for the stairs. Part of her mane was still trapped in the braid but was slowly coming loose with every movement.

Christian finished his drink, offering a few coin to the innkeeper for the meal, and headed upstairs as well.

When he entered, Alaine was sitting on the bed, her braid completely undone. Worn down like this, her mane reached the small of her back. She had also removed her surcoat and chainmail at some point, both of which were draped over the chair by the fireplace.

"Should I undress as well?" Christian asked, noting her state of undress.

"Yes." Alaine replied, turning her head to look back at him, then getting up to help him remove the armor.

He started working the straps to remove his armor, letting her help him lift off the shoulder and other large sections.

It was something of a challenge to carry something so oddly shaped but she managed well enough, propping it against the wall, where it was soon joined by his greaves and vambraces.

"Well, perhaps I shouldn't undress that far... you'd have me at a bit of a disadvantage." He noted that she still had her trousers on, despite the straps of his having been loosened.

"Hmm...I suppose it's only fair." She purred at him as she pulled off her boots and began working on removing her pants until her legs were bared to him for the second time that day.

He moved to sit on the bed, and encouraged her to do the same so that her feet would not touch the floor, or 'walk' anywhere.

She pulled her legs up onto the bed and moved to lie on her side, facing towards him. Despite that she herself had proposed the rendezvous, Alaine was feeling a little nervous.

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

"I'm already comfortable." She was lying down, after all.

He leaned down, almost laying next to her, and stroked her hair and shoulder. "Is there any way to make you... more comfortable?"

"I'm...not sure." Alaine blushed, looking down at her hands. "I've never arranged something like this before..."

"Well, we'll still have to keep it somewhat quiet... my brother in the next room, and the inn keeper are trying to sleep after all..."

"Yes, of course..." She reached up, gently running her fingers over his cheek as she looked up into his eyes.

He gazed back into her eyes, and touched the side of her neck with a delicate tracing, stroking her hair back before leaning in to kiss.

She leaned up, propping herself on one elbow to return the kiss, sighing softly as their lips met.

He made the kiss soft and light for her, his lips brushing against her as his hand moved down to her shoulder with a light tracing touch.

She pulled herself up a bit more, still kissing him while tracing along his neck with her fingers.

He parted from the kiss, letting her trace her fingers along his body as she traced his. He simply lay there on his side, gazing into her eyes, letting her take her time and do as she wished.

After a few seconds, she moved in, pressing her body to his own as she kissed him again. The shy and nervous demeanor from before was gone, as evidenced by her tongue sliding into his mouth while she ran her fingers through his hair.

Feeling a bit more encouragement he pushed back and almost forced her to her back with him pinning her down, though he didn't complete the motion as he was more intent on responding to her kiss with his own passion.

She gasped as she was pinned down but didn't break away, intent on continuing the kiss and matching his passion with her own.

He probably would have let her up, had she fought him, but instead he focused on dominantly kissing her. Even as they parted for breath he gave a nip at her lips and a little flick of his tongue.

She nipped at his lower lip in playful retaliation, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath.

He rolled back, giving her room to breath, and also not wanting to push her off the bed or into something uncomfortable.

After a few seconds, she broke the silence. "So...how long have you wanted this, Christian?" Alaine asked as she moved close to him again.

"From the moment I saw you." He replied. "No... that's... not quite true..."

"Well considering the moment you first saw me I was passing myself off as a man..." She trailed off, her hands settling over his shoulders as she looked into his eyes.

"Let's say, the first time I truly saw you then, hrm?" He asked. "And you're more womanly than you dress."

"That will do." She began to trace the contours of his right shoulder. "As for that second comment...I suppose that knowledge comes from all the times you've picked me up." Along with the one time he had unintentionally groped her.

"I do rather enjoy doing that." He admitted with a playful grin.

"You would. And I'm sure that you don't regret your accidental groping either." She added, teasing him.

"You're very gropable you know. Just because you bind yourself down doesn't mean I can't feel what's beneath. Unlike if you were to... say wear a dress..."

"I suppose I have to start wearing those things again at some point..." Alaine replied, using a tone of mock-resignation. In truth, she didn't mind wearing dresses or getting dressed in all her finery; it's just that men's clothes were so much less restraining.

"Putting on boning and a corset would tend to keep the men at arms distance." He pointed out. "But then... I much prefer to be a little closer to you." With that he pulled her to him in a hug that could easily turn to a kiss... or more intimate.

~Sometime later that night~

"I can't go with you to France." Christian said after several moments of silence and enjoying the closeness of their bodies.

"I know." Alaine did not hide the tinge of sadness in her voice, turning so that he spooned her and wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.

"You will come back to me." He told her.

"Of course, it's just...I'll miss you."

"And I you." He agreed.

"You know, once I get the rest of the cards, the barrier will be lifted..."

"It will be." He agreed.

"Let's hope Richard has readied his forces by then." She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I do what I can as a loyal follower..." Christian sighed. "But sometimes... I can not see where this country is going."

"What do you mean, Christian?"

"I taught the king how to duel myself." Christian sighed.

"That...isn't a good sign." Compare the leader of the enemy camp, who was reputed to be one of the best duelists in England and the best House Lancaster had to offer.

Christian didn't reply, he clearly didn't want to speak of his loyalties.

She let it drop there, kissing his cheek softly and turning to lie on her side. "I love you...Sleep well."

He sighed before closing his eyes and went to sleep.

The following day, they rose before the dawn, broke their fast and after settling their tab, the three rode on for Dover. Despite last night's liaison, Alaine manages to keep her composure, focused only on the road and their destination.

They traveled that day, and while Christian didn't speak on their joining the previous night, but he did show some subtle signs of kindness that Hans readily picked up on. They however remained composed as they journeyed.

By the time they reached Dover at nightfall, careful watching had more than confirmed Hans' suspicions: his brother was more than sweet on Alaine. The boy had wondered what prompted Christian to request the seal prior to meeting her and now he knew: they were courting. On the one hand, Hans couldn't help feeling protective of his brother yet at the same time he could tell how happy she made him, for all of Christian's-admittedly rather convincing-attempts to remain stoic.

Dover itself did not seem to hold any troubles for them. Christian gave Alaine some coinage that she could find passage across the channel, and took Hans to find some supplies for the journey back. They would have work to do, regardless of Alaine's success or failure in France. "Meet with me." Christian told Alaine. "I would say good bye to you before you depart."

"As would I." She replied, following after him even as she thinks back on the ship she secured passage in. Despite the circumstances, Alaine can't help thinking she's been forced to walk into a trap: _La Tiburona_ is an ominous enough name as it is, and from what she's learned of sailors, no self-respecting one would name their vessel after a creature they associate with bad omens. That it was the only vessel in port that was leaving for France isn't laying her suspicions to rest at all. Even so, she must proceed onward and come morning, she leaves for her homeland. And so, tonight, Alaine intends to spend all of it with her beloved.

Christian had some time to speak with Hans has they gathered supplies that day, waiting for Alaine to book her passage, and come to say her farewells.

It doesn't take long to do so and she meets up with him again soon enough. "We set sail on Wednesday thirty minutes past eight." Alaine declared as she walked up to him. In other words, tomorrow.

"Then we have this night to share." Christian replied.

"Yes." She moves to sit on the bed, taking a moment to remove her boots before pulling her legs up onto the bed itself.

"Have you eaten yet this evening?"

"I haven't." The first thing she had done after they arrived was to comb the docks in search of a ship that would grant her passage to France. That, among other concerns, had thoroughly distracted Alaine from any thought of food.

"Let us sup then." Christian suggested, offering her his hand, possibly to carry her from her bed.

Thankfully she had only removed the one, so Alaine quickly pulls it back on before she accepts his hand and lets him lead her out of the room.

Since she was booted up, he did indeed lead her, rather than carry her. Hans was seeing what he could do to get good meal in the town.

Eventually he finds a tavern with good food and reputation and they decide to eat there. As they walk in, Alaine's heart seems to jump up her throat when she sees that one of the patrons is none other than the Tiburona's captain and almost instantly her suspicions are brought to the forefront of her mind. Of course, she doesn't let these worries show in her face, simply sitting down at whatever table the brothers singled out.

Christian orders a hearty meal for the three of them, and some good drink to go with it.

She's eating but the food's flavor doesn't register, particularly when her inner sights perceives a trickle of turquoise energy coming from the man. She sighs and drinks a bit of her ale while attempting to push these concerns away.

"Alaine? You seem distracted." Christian pointed out as they ate.

She met his gaze. "I'm sorry...I'm just concerned about the passage."

Christian frowned at that. "Understandable." Was all he said.

"A lot...doesn't add up. The ship I booked happened to be the only one going home. And I made a point of checking out all the ships docked. The name is unsettling too but only because I'm thinking of the sailor superstitions I've heard."

Christian didn't seem to believe parts of this explanation, but simply went back to eating.

"I can't help but think I'm walking into a trap, is all..." She murmured as she resumed eating. "It doesn't help that the captain has the look of pirate about him."

Christian's gaze grew dark as he looked at the man, then back to Alaine.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw the implied accusation in them, then switched to a pained look she didn't bother hiding from him. "You think that...?" Alaine trailed off, fingers digging into the worn wooden surface of the table as she stared him down.

"I think that what?" Christian asked, giving her a blank look.

"...I need to step outside for a bit. It's too stuffy in here." With that, she got off of her seat and walked out of the tavern.

Christian frowned at that and went back to his meal, feeling confused but trying not to show it.

From his position near the bar, the captain had been watching the exchange, a slight smirk gracing his lips as he decided to stop shielding his Duelist Aura, causing a brief flare of energy that would make it clash with Christian's. A silent taunt and confirmation of Alaine's fears.

Christian's glare on him returned, and if anything tightened. A soft growl came to his throat and he pushed aside his plate to get up.

At that point Hans latched onto his brother's arm, keeping him down. "Maybe we should go back."

"Perhaps we should." Christian agreed, not taking his eye off the captain, watching the mans body language.

The man was aware of it, his posture indicating aggression and the look in his eyes as he met Christian's challenge. In short, trying to goad the dragon into a fight by poking its nose with a pointed stick.

Christian walked over to the bar where the Captain sat with his female companions. "Sirrah." Christian said. "Is that a challenge you are offering me?"

"And if it was, sellsword?" Santiago del Mar replied, his female companions quietly backing away from the two as they sensed things were about to get ugly.

A smug look took Christians eyes and slowly curled his lip. "If it is, then you would be mistaken."

Santiago smirked. "You seem rather sure of that, sirrah."

"I would ask that you give satisfaction... but a simple ferryman likely couldn't provide such."

"A ferryman? You couldn't be more wrong, sellsword." There was the hint of menace in his smile, strongly reminiscent of a shark. "Perhaps we should take this outside."

"Oh, would fishwife fit you better?" Christian asked, stepping back and gesturing for him to lead outside.

_"Bruder..."_

"At least I don't pretend to be something I am not." Santiago cut in as he slid off his chair, paid his tab and began walking towards the door.

"Oh? You certainly have me fooled. Perhaps we should see which of us is the pretender then."

"I don't pretend to be a knight as you do, Sellsword. That armor? Trying to overcompensate for the fact that you are a mercenary."

"You don't think this armor shows everyone that I am the best mercenary, and well worth top coin? Or do you not have a concept of such displays... given what I hear is a rather poorly named ship."

"_La Tiburona_ is the best sailing vessel in these waters, and I'll not tolerate you lambasting her." And with that, Santiago quickly rammed his fist right into Christian's face.

Christian took the blow to the face, rocking back a little. His lip split and began to bleed. But he didn't step back or do more than lean a little before he recovered, and matched the blow with a heavy gauntlet forearm backhand across Santiago's face. "Poor form."

"No one insults my ship." Santiago replied, recovering quickly to deal another blow into Christian's unprotected left side.

Christian rolled with the blow, grabbing his foes wrist and pulling until he could slam his knee into Santiago's solar plexus. At the same time he was doing this, he played a few facedowns. "That fishing scow? Beneath my time to insult."

Unfortunately for the tavern owner, this was happening not far from the entrance to his establishment. Santiago recovered from that, also putting down face downs of his own as he dropped and extended a leg in a sweeping kick, knocking Christian down to the ground. In the meantime, Hans ran off to find Alaine. Hopefully between the two of them they could put a stop to the brawl.

Christian mentally 'shuffled' his 'hand', not willing to increase the threat by summoning monsters, but definetly preparing to do so if called for. All this while on the ground, catching Santiago's leg as he finished the sweep and tried to regain his footing, with Christian's own leg wrapping around the leg Santiago was using to support his weight. A twist and pull brought the sea man to the ground with him, legs entangled.

Alaine rushed back with Hans just in time to see Santiago go down, the man quickly disentangling his legs so he could pin Christian down and beat him up.

Given that in doing so Christian landed a heel drop on his leg and got his elbow in front of him so that the sharp edge drove into Santiago as the man got on top of him and started raining blows on him, there really wasn't any indication who was actually winning the fight. In fact, it seemed that Christian was perfectly willing to take damage, so long as he gave as good as he got.

It took a while for Alaine to find the right spell to break up the fight, eventually settling for Shadow Spell. There was a flash of light as chains sprang out of the ground, quickly ensnaring both men and pulling them away from one another.

Christian immediate relented, glancing over at Alaine. "Release me." He said. "He presented a challenge, and honor demands that I meet it."

"If you keep going on any further you'll eventually kill him." Alaine replied, glancing over to the large red stains on Santiago's clothes. "Besides...I'm certain you don't want to attract the city guard's attention."

"This was a fair duel." Christian replied. "He offered a challenge to my honor. I responded in kind. I am within my legal rights, the city guards would not question me."

"Christian...Just finish this quickly. And let him live because I can't afford to get passage on another ship." Briefly, she kissed his cheek and pulled away. "Fight well." She said as she cancelled the Shadow Spell.

Christian shook himself a little and assumed a fighters stance. "Really? This town must really be hurting if the only ship availible is his leaky raft."

"It isn't the only ship, it's just the only one that's going to France!" Alaine exclaimed as the two resumed where they left off: pummeling each other to a pulp.

With Christian standing he managed to actually move and dodge, or at least block using his armor, taking advantage of what his opponent lacked.

Eventually the fight ended with both looking quite battered, though Christian looked less bruised than Santiago thanks to his armor, making him the victor as the other stumbled back towards his ship. Alaine walked over to Christian, took his purse and tossed it to Hans. "Mind settling the tab? I need to see to his bruises." Hans motioned that it was no problem and ran back to the tavern.

Christian stood there, rotating his neck as if to get the soreness out of it. He had forced Santiago to say "yield" and considered that a victory.

That said, it was well-earned. Santiago had given as good as he got given Christian's advantage of being armored. Quite likely, he'd be feeling the pain from the bruises later. "Shall we go?" Alaine inquired, placing a hand on his arm.

"If you insist." Christian shrugged. "I would suggest you find another boat to travel on. Perhaps spending more time in the city until another arrives."

"I guess there's always that option...but it might be weeks before a ship arrives." She said as Hans caught up with them and they started walking back to the inn.

"Do try to get your money back then." Christian said, trying to find some way to keep his face from bleeding on his armor.

She bit back the reminder that it was technically _his_ money and simply handed him a handkerchief. "I'll take a look at it back in our room."

"I don't think I trust that man to sail true." Christian said through the handkerchief. "I don't think his yield was true."

"Probably not...I'll just have to force him to sail true." Alaine replied as they came within view of the inn and hurried inside.

"How do you intend to do that?" Christian asked, clearing the otherwise empty field of his face down spells. Santiago had left the field, his spells fading first.

"A duel, of course." She said as Hans returned Christian's purse back to him and excused himself to head back to his room.

Christian spat on the ground. "You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"Of course I was. But I'd prefer to deal with this obstacle sooner rather than later. Nor do I want to give them any more chances to get at me while I'm still in England." Once inside, she moved to help him with his armor.

Christian gave her a look that said she was an idiot. "You're not going to sail with that man."

"...What if I commandeered it?"

He rolled his eyes.

"I'll figure out something. Who knows, there might be another ship also leaving for France tomorrow..." She said as she retrieved a balm of salve from her pack to rub over his bruises.

"And if there isn't?" Christian asked. "You stay until there is one."

"And you'll be heading back to the king."

Christian sighed and closed his eyes as though a headache was forming.

Once she was finished with the salve she set it aside and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace.

"You're going to do something stupid." Christian told her.

"Christian...you leave tomorrow." Was all she said, still hugging him.

Christian struggled with the idea of demanding back his crest.

Alaine sighed and pulled away to get ready for bed. "I won't go on the ship...I'll just have to figure something else."

"Do so." Christian told her sternly. His voice then softened to almost a whisper. "I'll not lose you so simply."

"Right..." She pulled off her boots, surcoat, and chainmail before joining him back on his bed. "Would it be alright if we stayed in touch?"

"I would like that." Christian said, climbing into bed as well. "Something to keep you from further foolishness."

She frowned at the comment but did not remark further on it, instead getting under the covers with him while pondering on what messenger they'd use.

Christian tried to get himself comfortable, knowing that he'd be stiff and sore in the morning from the beating he took. Santiago on the other hand he suspected should be weakened for a few days.

He did not notice the Fairy Dragon Alaine summoned, flying above their heads for a bit before curling up on top of Christian's head, not unlike certain cats...

Christian groaned as he felt something landing on him and tried to brush it away before it hurt his bruised face even more.

The Fairy Dragon settled beside Alaine on her pillow and she dismissed it, closing her eyes as she tried to fall asleep.

Christian slept as well, though not soundly.

At some point, Alaine snuggled close to him in her sleep, her hand brushing his as they slept.

Christian slept on.

Alaine slept on, and it was fairly dreamless as well. Some hours before dawn however, water began to seep along the floorboards as a Water Nymph materialized in the room. She looked about before eventually locating her target. Her light-green eyes, devoid of irises or pupils, glowed and the water level rose, partially solidifying around Alaine's body as the water began to recede back into the Nymph's urn. However, it wasn't long before Alaine woke up and began to struggle in her watery bonds yet finding it difficult to break free with her Duelist's Aura due to Santiago's smothering her own. "C-Christian...!" She barely managed to cry out before the Water Nymph hastily gagged her.

* * *

Yep, that's a cliffhanger. I can be mean like that.

**Santiago del Mar**: Mako Tsunami's incarnation. In the game, he's just introduced as Mako and is essentially a 'Duelist-for-hire' that's been paid by the Lancastrians to stop you en route to France. His name in the original transcript was something else entirely and the encounter played out differently too. For whatever reason, I've always pictured him as a Spanish pirate.

**Water Nymph**: This is basically a green-skinned and haired palette swap of the Water Omotics card but I've gone and completely forgotten the actual name of the thing.

Feedback is welcome!


	12. Leaving Dover

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I do not own the historical personages that appear in this fic. I do own some characters or character concepts for others.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Rose Duelist/PC, Christian Rosenkreuz, Santiago del Mar  
Location: Skype**

**Warning: Character Death**

* * *

Christian came awake, having been sleeping fitfully in the first place. He couldn't tell what brought him awake, or how, but he instantly played a spell as he pulled himself from bed... a spell that debatably would be the worst one to start a duel with, but he was still mostly asleep._ Swords of Revealing Light_ suddenly filled the room, blocking any access.. or escape.

It was both a good situation and bad: the good part was that the Water Nymph was frozen in place. The bad part was this also meant her bonds stayed as they were and Alaine could do nothing about it. In addition, if Santiago summoned other monsters, they wouldn't be affected...

It also meant that Christian couldn't attack or do anything else. He'd used his turn. He couldn't summon or do anything but place a facedown, of which he only had one that could be useful, and it not immediately.

Shortly after, another monster materialized on the field, immediately taking hold of Alaine and starting to sink into the water created by the Nymph, intent on taking her to his master.

Christian immediately flipped his face down, and the monster did indeed sink into the water, but not in the manner it had intended. Alaine found herself freed. The nymph trapped for another few turns, and the creature that had tried to take her destroyed in an acid hole trap. Christian focused, trying to feel where the enemy duelist was... and if any face downs were on the field. Certainly not on his side... but then it was his turn next... or was it Alaine's?

Alaine quickly got out of the way, heading back to his side as she put down face downs of her own. After some thought, she summoned one of the few water monsters she had-an Aqua Dragon Fairy-onto the field. It would have been able to finish off the Nymph but she held it back as she sensed the face downs on Santiago's side. The fairy seemed to mimic Alaine, one delicate hand gently tugging on the white serpentine dragon's collar to hold it back. Just in case, Alaine places another face down and ends her turn.

It's Santiago's move now, and another monster materializes beside the Water Nymph: a Fire Kraken. Amazingly, the flames that make up its head only grow higher, benefitting from the illusory water field that the Water Nymph created. He orders it to attack Alaine's Aqua Dragon Fairy. To her credit, Alaine withstands the blow, simply biting down on her lip as smoke (steam?) rises from the part on her body where the Fire Kraken struck down her monster.

Christian stepped back, leaving a dark reflection of himself that danced and spun away, cavorting in front of the Fire Kraken between the beast and either of the duelists to keep them protected. "If he calls up something large the whole city could in trouble." Christian noted.

"We'll have to simply make sure he doesn't." Alaine watched as the Fire Kraken began to grow annoyed with the shadow. "I'm not sure he can anyway."

"You have a point." Christian agreed with a smirk, looking at the Fire Kraken and addressing it as he would Santiago. "He clearly can't draw anything more than a grimy tide pool's worth of creatures. Attacking at night, by surprise, a coward's ploy. He's probably afraid of the crashing of the waves and knows nothing of the sea. No wonder his boat is so pitiful."

"You dealt him a few good hits too. So he can't afford to go all out thanks to your brawl with him last night." Pause. "Speaking of which, how are you feeling, mon amour?" At this point Alaine sent out her own shadowy reflection to cavort with Christian's and distract Santiago's monsters while one of the swords suddenly shattered into bright pieces of light that gradually dimmed to nothing.

Christian didn't care that much about the swords... though he did raise an eyebrow as she summoned her own Dark Clown to caper about in a defensive line. "Last night? I don't recall having a fight last night. I feel fit as ever." Not... quite true, as he was sore and bruised, but he could shrug that off if circumstances called for a fight.

The look she gave him pretty much stated 'don't give me that crap' but she dropped the subject, watching as several more swords shattered and activating a spell of her own: a fissure that opened right beneath the Fire Kraken and pulled it down, sending it back to Santiago's 'graveyard' as well as draining some of the water from the field.

Christian had his face downs in play, and waited patiently to see the next move made. After all, Alaine had been the last to take a turn, and it was Santiago's next.

The swords shatter in a brilliant display of solid light shards as Santiago undid the spell and the Water Nymph was free to move once more. A vortex of water formed beside her, signifying the entrance of another monster as the first lashed out with her urn, the water within flooding out to strike at the shadowy doppelgangers while another monster entered the scene: an Archer Mermaid.

Christian leisurely stood there, his dark clown on the field running a defensive line, while he continued to gradually fill his field with face down. "This is truly sad." He sighed. "Keeping a mermaid ready for summons, as though he needs titillation when wandering the lonely beaches, since the waves scare him so. I guess he can't even afford a proper whore with the few coins he gathers from being a pathetic ferryman. He doesn't know just how out of his league he is trying to take you..."

Alaine sighs, a sound that is cut short as the Water Nymph destroys her doppelganger. In concept, the entity is essentially the same as the Egyptian Ka: a body double. Not surprisingly, Alaine falls down on one knee with a soundless gasp as the pain courses through her body, feeling like a strong wave just slammed right into her.

"Ah ah ah." Christian said as the Water Nymph drew back and blinked as it suddenly felt strange. The water flowing from its urn seemed to slow and turn a stagnant greenish. "Well, now he can't summon any large beasts. His deck is infected. His summons weakened by plague." With that Christian flipped one of his face downs to reveal a beast warrior, who proceeded to cleave into the monsters before them with ease.

"...I think I'll be feeling that later." Alaine muttered as she rose to her feet, watching as the urn crumbled in the Nymph's hands before the monster herself practically evaporated to nothing. As an afterthought, she summons another monster, redirecting its presence near La Tiburona. The monster of course, is her Aqua Dragon, quite content to be in its home turf as it eyes La Tiburona from its current position.

"I think I know what would make you feel better." Christian said. "Taking the fight to this coward." The Force Raider smashed through the last enemy monster on the field and opened the door so it could march on Santiago. Christian followed, dragging his 'face downs' with him.

"That'd be nice...At any rate, he's trapped." Alaine replied as the field vanished in their room and the two followed after the Vorse Raider.

"The cowardly fool backed himself into a corner?" Christian asked, heading down the street tracing the rival duelist.

"My Aqua Dragon's waiting beyond the port. If he tries to flee, it will follow."

"Bah." Christian said dismissively, still marching to the port. He hadn't the time to put on his armor, but he did have his sword at his hip at least. And this time the fight had been escalated to where he could use monsters and spells. Very little would stop him at this point.

Alaine followed after him, eventually walking past him because she knew which ship to look for.

Christian seemed to know where to go as well... or at the very least he followed his monsters, which seemed to have the scent of their opponent and were eager for blood.

Their trail led to a ship whose hull and masts had been painted in grey while the front had been fashioned to resemble the face and maw of a shark. The sails were slightly worn but still functional. Alaine didn't like the look of her crew however, who seemed to be expecting them.

"We're here for your captain." Christian shouted to the crew. "This is a matter of honor and vengeance. I offer you two choices: Stand aside and allow this duel to finish, or stand in our way and be slain. I know which one I want to see."

Neither of them flinch, all prepared to give their lives to protect their captain...except a harsh shout holds them back. _"Que vayan a bordo!"_ It's Spanish, a language Alaine hasn't quite mastered but it sounds similar enough in some ways to her native tongue because both share a root language in Latin. Reluctantly, the sailors obey, letting down the boarding ramp even as a few mutter that it is bad luck to let a woman that wasn't the captain's wife on board a sailing vessel.

Christian's Dark Clown mocks them as he strides up the boarding ramp, bringing up the rear of the procession.

Santiago steps out of his cabin to meet them, standing tall despite the clear signs of pain on his brow as he acknowledges them with a nod, giving a hard look at Alaine as she moves to stand beside Christian. At this point Santiago was wondering if he should have demanded more money from Henry and his ilk.

"Captain Santiago," Christian addressed him, drawing steel. "For what you have done, are you prepared to die?"

"Clearly the wench has gotten herself quite the guard dog...though she herself seems to possess some bite of her own." Santiago replied as he drew his own weapon, a steel cutlass, watching as Alaine draws her own sword as well, intending to join in the fight.

"You challenged me to the duel. You lost with no complaint. You yielded. Then you attack again in the dead of night, striking at a sleeping woman." Christian said. "The Lord has provided rules by which we live by, and decreed punishments for those who do not abide. You face your judgment now."

"Was just doing my job, sell sword. And who do you think you are, trying to be so saintly? Don't act as though you've never dirtied your hands, Rosenkreuz." Pause. "After all, I was there when you pulled your trick on the Saracens at Damascus!"

Christian's eyebrow raised and his lip curled. "So you deny nothing, and accept your fate, just as I would have, had I failed as badly as you." With that he swung at the Captain a blow to remove his head.

The blow failed as Santiago blocked with his cutlass and shoved him back, showing he still had some fight in him. He knew his end was upon him but at the least, he hoped to go down fighting.

The shove back did not disengage their blades, and Christian sidestepped, keeping Santiago's sword pinned as he stepped past. This of course left Christian vulnerable, should Santiago decide to drop his blade. Of course, the Vorse Raider was waiting behind Christian to swing it's sword at the pirate as well.

Santiago sees the opportunity, contemplates the multiple ways he could deal an injury into the man's unprotected side. But he doesn't take it, instead breaking the blade lock to attack again.

He wouldn't have had time to deal any injury. The Vorse Raider's blade came down on the pirate's skull as he contemplated and attempted to break the blade block. The blade sliced well into Santiago's ribcage as it cleaved the skull in half. Christian, now standing behind Santiago's corpse, turned to address the crew.

They watched him, their faces stony though neither of them stepped up to challenge him or his Vorse Raider.

"Do any more of you wish to follow your former captain's path in life?" Christian asked, projecting his voice as though commanding an army in the field.

They shook their heads vigorously.

"In event of the loss of your captain, who takes his place?"

One of the men stepped forward. "I am Inigo, the First Mate." His complexion was a similar swarthy tone to Santiago's though not as dark and the man's eyes were green while his hair was a dark brown and tied back.

"And what contracts has this ship and crew taken payment for that they have not yet delivered on?" Christian asked.

Inigo swallowed a lump in his throat and awkwardly gestured to Alaine. "The captain had intended to capture her and force her into a duel so that she might give up the Rose Cards on her defeat. As you can see, it fell through..."

"And you took coin for this?" Christian asked in a very dangerous tone.

"T-the captain was offered advance payment and he took it...The purse is still on him, _senor_."

Christian started to pace the deck. "Alaine, check the purse on the Captain. Inigo. Are there any other debts this ship and her crew have yet to make good on?"

Alaine nodded and went over to the body, taking a moment to push Santiago's eyes shut before she begins searching him. Inigo takes a moment to respond, thinking hard on the question before eventually responding with a firm "no."

The circle that Christian had paced started to glow as he triggered his White Dragon Ritual, and he grabbed Inigo by the collar, lifting the man up. "Isn't that interesting Alaine?" He asked in a less projected voice.

"I'm listening, Christian." Alaine replied as she rejoined him, carrying the bloodstained purse in one hand as she watched him lift up Inigo.

"I assume then that you still have the coin book passage with Alaine, and you did not purchase transit on this ship." Christians tone said that if that coin was not produced by **SOMEONE** the docks would be clearing wreckage of a former ship by morning time.

Inigo quickly motioned to one of his men to retrieve the lockbox where the savings were kept and the man did so, hauling the small yet heavy chest out onto the deck and quickly smashing its lock so it could be opened. Under Christian's intense scrutiny he took the exact amount of English Crowns Alaine had paid for her passage and holding them up, trying his best (and failing) not to tremble beneath Christian's intense glare.

"So you did accept coin." Christian said. "And you have not yet delivered on the promise you accepted the coin for." A Paladin of White Dragon appeared on the ship, its talons digging into the deck wood.

"We shall do so right away! Men, prepare to cast off!" Alaine can't help smiling as she watches the sailors scramble for their posts before walking over to her beloved, taking a moment to pat the Paladin's mount along the way, taking the coin from the man who opened the lockbox and walking down the boarding ramp and off the ship, the bloodied purse still in hand.

Christian threw Inigo onto the deck. "Worthless. Captain Inigo, we will be taking back the coin for passage, and we will be delivering the coin prepaid for bounty back to the bounty master themselves as proof that they should never have paid. Take your miserable crew and sail. Sail far from England, and never find yourself north of the Channel again. Do you understand?" Christian made ready to mount the white dragon as they sailed from England.

The new captain quickly snapped to attention and began barking orders. The crew, likewise spooked, began going through the motions to pull out of port as fast as possible. In the meantime, Alaine dismissed her Aqua Dragon as she waited for Christian to see them out of England and come back to the docks.

Christian mounted the White Dragon behind the Paladin and lifted off, leaving a large scar in the deck of the ship from its claws. Christian landed on the dock shortly afterwards, having left his Dark Clown on the ship to watch them at least until they got far enough away. The ship would now be 'haunted' by it.

Alaine rose to her feet and walked over to the dragon, taking a moment to pet it before walking over to its side to gaze up at him. "You'll be leaving now then."

"I'll be going back to bed." Christian said. "I'm tired, and sore, and in a fair amount of pain."

"In that case...do you mind if I join you?" She inquired, barely covering her yawn now that the excitement was over.

"Please do." Christian said, making the march back to the inn wearily.

She walked back with him, and they made it back to the inn without further commotion. Before she turned in though, Alaine quickly washed her feet and put on new bandages, then climbed onto Christian's bed on the side she had been using before and lay down.

Christian lay in the bed and very quickly dropped to the same fitful sleep as before.

Alaine slept as well, though not as peacefully as before the attack.

By morning Christian was sore and did not want to rise from his bed.

Alaine explained the situation to Hans (who had somehow slept through this entire ruckus) and the boy later came up with a tray of food for them, along with his own plate.

Christian grunted and accepted the food, eating it like a soldier but not really bothering to taste or enjoy it.

Alaine ate as well also not really enjoying it for different reasons.

"You'll need another ship." Christian said.

She nodded, putting her half-eaten plate back on the tray. "I know."

"What's wrong?"

Wordlessly, she lifted her head, her eyes having taken on a shining countenance associated with crying. Rather than answer, she simply moved in and hugged him gently, mindful of his bruises and aches.

"You still have that bag of coin to return to Henry... or the one who hired that pirate." He pointed out. "It wouldn't be right not to give it back to them."

"I know that...And I will give it back to them. But right now, I'd like to treasure what moments we have until you leave."

"I must return to my crusaders." Christian said, though his duty could not hide some of the pain of their separation.

"I won't stop you from that. Just...give me these last few moments with you."

Christian sighed and reached out to take her hand in his. Hans was likely watching with a great big Cheshire cat grin.

She wrapped her own around his and squeezed, gazing into his eyes.

"Ow." He said softly as she squeezed, perhaps a bit too hard.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, lifting his hand to her lips and kissing it gently, at the same time channeling her healing magic through the kiss to lessen the soreness in his body.

"Just a bit sore." Christian said. "And stiff."

"Hmm...Show your back to me."

Christian grunted. "He didn't hit me on the back." He replied, but turned so that his shirt could be removed.

Carefully she pulled it off, at one point shooing Hans from the room so she wouldn't be distracted. Alaine then placed her hands over his shoulders, carefully running them along them and down his back. "As I figured...you're quite tense." Briefly, she recalled one particular instance of a memory-dream: Henutawwy smoothing her palms with sweet almond oil and rubbing them over Set's back. Alas, she had no oil but she felt it would be no trouble imitating the motions. So Alaine began to rub and massage his shoulders, carefully easing the knots of tension that had built up within them.

"Of course I'm tense. I barely slept last night." Christian said grumpily.

"At the very least try to relax." She suggested as she worked out a knot at the nape of his neck.

He grunted, not particularly enjoying this.

She worked out enough knots about the shoulders that he shouldn't be as stiff and simply hands him his shirt back. Knowing him, they'll likely be back by the time they see each other again. Alaine then slides off the bed, this time to retrieve his armor and help him suit up.

Christian looked at the shirt for several moments like it was a yoke to go over his shoulders and weigh him down, but he put it back on and started on the straps as she put on his armor over the bruises on his torso. His face wasn't looking all that good either, the swelling from some of the blows making him slightly disfigured.

Alaine's eyes went through a sort of REM movement before she found the spell she wanted: Goblin's Remedy. It wouldn't heal him completely but it went a long way to reducing the swellings and soreness. In the meantime, the rest of his armor soon followed the chest plate, and when they were done, Alaine handed him his sword, which he had left propped against the wall beside his bed.

"I guess this is farewell then." Christian said as he suited up to leave.

"Looks that way." She said, following after him to see him off.

"Good bye then." He said. "Come back to me."

"I will." She replied. "Stay safe."

He nodded, but didn't really give any promise that he would as he went to where the horses were stabled.

"You should take Chanson with you." Alaine said as they reached the stables.

"I will. Don't worry." Christian replied.

She nodded and went over to bid her farewells to the mare, which nickered and nudged at her affectionately before she handed the reins to Hans.

Christian mounted his own horse and walked it out of the stable.

Hans mounted Chanson, attaching his mount's reins to Chanson's saddle before following after his brother.

Christian rode off, forcing himself not to glance back at her.

She turned away as well, knowing that if she lingered it would only be harder for her to look away from the path he took.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah...the bit with Santiago could have gone better.

Feedback is welcome, as always!


	13. The Camp at Bosworth Field

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I do not own the historical personages that appear in this fic. I do own some characters or character concepts for others.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Christian Rosenkreuz, Hans Rosenkreuz, Richard Slysheen III of York, Hugo "Weevil" Underwood, John "Rex" Raptor, Hilde Beillschmidt, Rose Duelist/PC  
Location: Skype**

* * *

Christian and Hans rode out of town, heading onward to what would be the front lines.

It takes them several days to reach Bosworth but when they do, the military camp is a hive of activity, and the first to greet them are none other than his Rose Crusaders. Well, most of them at least; for some reason Hilde Beillschmidt is oddly absent.

"Report." Christian told them as he arrived.

"Well, everything's been alright for the most part..." Hugo looked like he wanted to say more but wasn't sure how to. Fortunately, Jean cut him off. "We've been having some issues with His Majesty, Christian." He didn't get much further because Hugo smacked him then and began ranting on about how you don't just drop stuff like that on a person from the get go.

"You do know that when I say 'report' I expect you to drop all of it right away." Christian told them. "Now. Explain."

"Well, His Majesty has been asking questions about the Rose Cards...We've mostly kept quiet on them and his questions have been fairly innocent for now but...seems he's getting ideas." Pause. "We also think he's trying to seduce Hilde."

"Key word: trying." Keith placed an added emphasis on the word.

"What kind of ideas about the rose cards?"

"Well he's mostly asked about what they might be capable of. We suspect he's trying to think of ways they could be applied as weapons against the Lancastrians."

"They're currently being used to keep armies, both human and otherwise, from landing." Christian pointed out. "If he's willing to remove that shield, while a sword is pointed at his throat, he can pay us and we can always leave."

"He's wondered if there's a way to weaponize the shield, essentially..." Jean would have said more, except at that moment Hilde joined them.

"Pardon my tardiness...I got held up."

Christian raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't say anything and turned back to Rex. "There's always a way to weaponize a shield. The question is if it would be effective or so clumsy it's simply a detriment."

"In any case, we made it clear we wouldn't make a move until you came back."

"It... won't move at all in the term he's likely thinking of it." Christian said. "It's not so much a shield you hold, it's a stone wall we built to keep arrows form hitting us. Yes, we can move the stones, but doing so would put us in the line of the arrows, and once removed the stones aren't protecting us if we carry them to a new place and rebuild."

"Which we did tell him...but he seems to have selective hearing." The last part was mostly muttered by Weevil under his breath.

"Hilde, my crusaders are reporting, do you have anything to add?"

"Beyond what they've already mentioned? No, Christian." Well there was the matter of the king trying to get her to warm his cot but that was unrelated to work.

"And you know how much they've said?" Christian asked with raised eyebrow.

"I can hazard a guess." She replied calmly as she met his gaze.

"So there is nothing more to report than our employer being... difficult?"

"Nothing more. How did your business at Stonehenge go? Hugo would only say you were being accompanied by a...camp follower." Hilde tried but there was no better way she could think of delicately phrasing the word "whore."

Christian gave Weevil his direct gaze. "Sir Underwood has an issue with his perception. That was the Duelist he was speaking of, and we have already claimed some of the Red Rose cards to join with ours."

"The Rose Duelist is a woman? Interesting." Though certainly not out of the realm of possibility; there were quite a few female Duelists running about, Hilde herself being one of these. Not surprisingly, Hugo immediately began apologizing for his inappropriate terminology while the other Rose Crusaders voiced their own opinions about the revelation.

Christian rolled his eye. "Enough. The plan was less smooth than anticipated, and while she has gone to France to root out Henry and his other Red Rose cards, we've already encountered a bounty on her head. She's apt to do something stupid and get herself killed on her quest, but at least she's willing to make the effort on our behalf. So honor her or her memory and focus on the moment. We have to deal with our King."

The ones who had been chattering quickly fell silent, awaiting further orders.

"Assume your stations, behave yourselves. We are still loyal subjects of the King and I expect you all to act that way... now I will speak to him on how best to utilize our skills."

"Yes, ser!" With that, the Rose Crusaders scattered to various parts of the camp as Hans dismounted from Chanson and moved to take Erzengel's reins. "I'll see to our things while you speak with the King, _bruder_."

"Good Hans." Christian nodded, and braced himself to speak with the King.

Upon reaching the Royal tent, he was informed at the entrance that the man had been expecting him and awaited him within.

Christian bowed respectfully as he entered and remained silent to allow the King to speak.

"Ah, Ser Christian. It is good to have you back here with Us. Care for a drink? Admittedly, all We have right now is ale." Richard III of York stated as he motioned to the small keg on his desk. "Matters went well at Stonehenge, I trust."

"You are too kind." Christian said, accepting the drink though not intending to drink it quickly... or really at all so long as he could be polite about it. "And sadly matters at Stonehenge were less successful than hoped, but far better than we feared. Hence my extended time away, dealing with matters."

"Less successful yet better? That is rather confusing, Ser Christian; you will have to explain to Us in more detail."

"I failed to secure all the Red Rose cards from their druid." Christian said. "But they did not gain any weapon to use against us from their efforts, and did indeed lose two. I hope that soon forces in play will have removed them all from their control. So the difference is in what we feared, and what we hoped for."

"Excellent; the less these Lancastrian usurpers have to work with, the better Our chances of keeping Our crown. Ideally, it would be best to keep them out of England forever but this conflict over Our throne has dragged on long enough. The time has come for a definite and final outcome."

"I bow to your wisdom my Lord." Christian replied. "I would however like to keep our contract payments up to date."

"We thought as much. Our bailiff, Thomas Smith, has already set aside the necessary payments at Our request. You only have to ask." Richard replied before drinking more of his ale. "Is there anything else?"

"Only what you ask of me My Lord." Christian said once more respectfully.

Richard rose from his seat and walked over to the map spread out on his desk, tapping one particular area on it. "Bosworth field. It is here where the Wars will finally end. There are already a lot of soldiers assembled and more come by the day. You will have to work closely with my generals to decide where they are best positioned."

"Of course my Lord... but does this mean that they will be landing? Surely they will know of your plans..."

"They will certainly do what they must to succeed in their attempt. What a fine thing it would be to chase that upstart away from his homeland not once but twice." Richard's eyes narrowed as his mind lingered on his nemesis, though the harsh smile did not fade.

Christian let his gaze grow troubled. "Of course your Majesty, you certainly have sought wiser council than I can bring to come to this decision. May I take my leave to prepare?"

"Of course. Ah, there is one last thing..."

Christian tried to look innocent. "Yes my Lord?"

"...We're not entirely certain why you give Us that look but it does not become you at all, Ser Christian." Pause. "In any case, We were wondering if you'd be up for a duel later today. We have been honing Our skills during your absence and would like to show how much We've improved."

"I would be honored your Majesty." Christian bowed deeply.

"We shall send word for what time is most convenient for Our purposes. You may take your leave, ser."

Christian did so, wondering why the king had not mentioned anything about bedding Hilde... Had to respect the woman for turning aside such advances without upsetting his royal pain in the highness.

When he arrived at his tent, he found that everything had been unpacked and all was in order...except for the Petit Dragon Hans was playing with. Christian didn't remember anything of that sort being in their belongings.

"Practicing a new summons?" Christian asked his brother.

"Hm? No, it arrived with a message. I left it on your cot."

Christian checked the message with a weary eye on the dragon. He was trying to read whom summoned it if not his brother, but the summoner seemed to be at long range. Which mean, unlike Santiago, the summoner wouldn't be able to see through it's eyes or know what was happening to it. Not a good way to engage in combat.

The Petit Dragon locked eyes with him then, and briefly a blurred image of a wild rose and briar with golden wings flashed in the depths of its eyes. It was an image he had seen before...

Christian sighed, having apparently read the message and not found anything more interesting than the image in the dragon's eyes, and so left the tent to see to his other crusaders.

The message was a report from the Rose Duelist. Sometime during his ride to Bosworth, she managed to locate a ship and sail back home. This particular missive had been sent from Amiens, where one of Prince Henry's closest friends had been reported to be staying. The duel of course, is written in detail but there are other things written down as well, such as the fact that Christopher Urswick had also worn a suit of armor of a similar thematic subject, the difference being that his had been modeled on the Red Eyes Black Dragon rather than the Blue Eyes. At the bottom of the page Alaine had even included a rough line art of what it looked like.

Christian looked over all the curves and spikes and made a note to mention how much Urswick seemed to be overcompensating for something when he wrote back to Alaine.

The letter is, of course, tucked away in a safe hiding place before he leaves to check with the other Crusaders. His first stop is Hilde's tent, where he catches the young woman heaving a sigh as she returns yet another unopened (and expensive) gift to the royal messenger. "I'm sorry but it would be the height of impropriety to accept this. Please, take it back to your master." She said to the messenger as he approached.

Christian gave the messenger a curious look, then Hilde as well.

She watches the messenger leave before looking back at him. "Yes?"

"Having trouble with this sort of thing?"

"You could say that."

"Would you like to be... removed from the area?" Christian asked. "There are places that could use your supervision that are... somewhat distant from his Majesty."

"I'll keep that in mind, if the man...oversteps himself. He's of the stubborn variety, though." Hilde said as she smoothed over the skirts of her gown.

Christian gave a nod. "As you wish."

"That said, you'll likely hear from me about that reassignment offer very soon." Pause. "Have you rested at all since you arrived?" She inquired, a hint of concern in her voice.

"With all that needs to be done?" Christian asked. At some point during the ride his face had taken on a pretty unpleasant appearance from the bruising, but it looked worse than it actually felt.

"Hmm…I suppose. But please...don't work yourself to exhaustion. You can rely on us, you know."

Christian gave her a look like she was being a bothersome sister. "I'll do what I always do: what I have to."

She gave him a look admitting that yes, she was being a bothersome sister but only because she cared. "In any case, we'll be here if you need us, Christian." She said, taking a step back.

"As always, appreciated." Christian acknowledged, and left. At the very least he still had the letter to send to Alaine before getting any sleep.

The duel with the King later on hadn't really helped matters, with Christian barely winning by the skin of his teeth. That Sword of Dragon's Soul spell had been quite an obstacle for him to surpass...

He still complimented the king on his growing skill, privately and silently wonder where even the king had gotten such a card. So Christian was just a bit exhausted when he was writing his reply to Alaine's letter, telling her that he was fine too, and missed her. He rambled, but was sure not to pen any information that could fall into enemy hands.

The next message wouldn't come until some weeks later, this time from Paris: _"That makes five. John Morton posed a bit of a challenge at first but ultimately, he was defeated as well. Stefan and I are now riding for Le Mans, where Jasper 'Dice' Tudor resides. I expect there will be a challenge, for it is said he commands the Forbidden One, a fearsome and most formidable beast."_

Christian raised an eyebrow at that. No, purely a rumor. No one could command the Forbidden One.

_"I do not know if it is true or not but I will likely find out once I challenge him. There haven't been as many ambushes on the road as there were when I was in England though they still happen. We're both deadly with a blade so we can usually scare them off if they are highwaymen but a fight is inevitable if they are Lancastrian soldiers. Injuries have been very few and shallow at best. Speaking of, that gash on my leg has healed completely, with no sign of scarring."_

Christian smiled at that thought. He hadn't wanted her to suffer scars on his behalf. But the fact there were still highwaymen in France didn't make him feel any better about the ambushes that had encountered together. Someone of his rank being confronted by simple brigands...

Fortunately, it seemed she wasn't traveling on her own, which evened the odds. _"Stefan has been good company and all and he duels well enough that I can improve my skills in practice duels with him but I still catch myself thinking back on our time together. I miss you and I simply wish to be by your side once more. I've tried my best to hide it but Stefan has the advantage of being my older brother and can tell that I'm 'pining', as he calls it. Which I am not."_

'Pining'? Christian frowned at that. He made a mental note to ask Hans if he himself was 'pining' and how he could stop if he was...

_"On a related note, I sometimes think back on the rendezvous. Mostly I try to think of ways to spice up a second one and already have a few ideas floating about in my mind. Actually, there's one that's been in my head for a while but for obvious reasons I felt it was unseemly to try it, at least for now."_

Despite his distractions, he too had thought of something as well, and wondered just what her ideas would have been. He made certain to ask in the next letter sent to her.

_"At any rate, the hour grows late and we'll be rising early tomorrow. The memory-dreams still haunt me in sleep but I've started keeping a 'dream memoir' of sorts: I draw all the scenes I witness in my dreams. Even the...naughty ones. I'll say this much for whoever I used to be in those lifetimes: they were quite adventurous in the bedroom. In closing, keeping this memoir has helped me cope with it better. I shall write to you again once we reach Le Mans._

_Sincerely, Alaine"_

Christian frowned at the 'dream memoir' thing, and not quite sure how he'd take the idea of her... bedroom explorations.

_"Post-script: these aren't my memories so that means these aren't my bedroom explorations."_

This did not help him decide on how he felt about the matters, though he promised himself that when he wrote back, he would note that he was not at all averse to doing such dreams in reality... depending on what the dream was of course. He'd need more information.

It would be during the final stretch of the journey from Paris to Le Mans that Alaine would receive Christian's response, though it was not until she and Stefan stopped at a village inn that she would get a chance to look at it. Which she did, after chasing out her brother and taking a moment to calm herself before carefully breaking the seal with a letter knife and opening the letter.

_"Dearest Alaine, I hope this missive finds you well and that you are unharmed. Hans keeps playing with La petit draygon you keep sending and I have a hard enough time getting the letter. Fortunately he knows not to break the seal on it or I would need to cuff him."_ The letter goes on, but that is the greeting.

She smiles a bit, picturing Christian chasing both Hans and the Petit Dragon to get at the letter (she's not certain what he was going for by misspelling it but decides not to pursue the matter) and moves on to the next paragraph in the letter.

_"Sadly I can not tell you what difficulties I am suffering under here, as it is sensitive information but I assure you, it is quite tedious and bothersome. My face is recovering from the beating. Hans says that I will be presentable in a few weeks, though Sir Underwood has doubts that I was ever presentable in the first place. He does not really have room to judge."_

_He really doesn't._ Alaine agreed silently, happy to hear he was recovering from the fight as she moved on to the next segment. And while part of her wished he could talk of his troubles, she understood the need for secrecy and so would not press the matter.

_"I too have thought on our rendezvous fondly, and wish as well to explore such a relationship further. My mind wanders back to you nightly, if not more often. I look forward to hearing of the ideas you have in your mind, but if you find them too unseemly to write down, perhaps it is better left unspoken. I hesitate to consider what you think I would not welcome though. As always, I write by candle light, my day having been too filled to respond no matter how eagerly I wish to send you word. As for your... dreams, I am not sure how I feel about them. A part of me wishes to know more and to understand more, yet another part begs you to remember that they are but dreams, flights of fancy our mind has as we sleep, and no reflection of your life past, present or future."_

_If only you knew..._ Alaine thought to herself as she read through this particular paragraph. She could try for it but the Rose Duelist doubted there were enough words to convey the depth of emotion she experienced in these dreams. Going over the first half of the paragraph however, Alaine decided she would pen some of her ideas in the next letter, which she intended to send once her business in Le Mans was finalized. Nodding to herself in approval of this decision, she continued to read.

_"I look forward to hearing from you again as soon as you find the time to respond. I have always enjoyed your skill at artwork and would enjoy viewing your efforts. Until we can meet again I am your servant._

_-Christian."_

"And you shall have it." She whispered, almost tempted to kiss the paper but decided that was too silly and folded the letter before placing it in the book she had hollowed out to use as a letterbox and then going to bed. She has a big day ahead of her after all.

* * *

**A/N 1**: So this chapter introduces quite a few characters. Admittedly I'm not sure I'll stick with Jean as the name for Rex Raptor's incarnation but I did want to at least make an effort of having the Rose Crusaders come from various parts of Europe (to name some examples: Hugo's from England, Jean from France, and Hilde is from Austria). A lot of these characters didn't really have incarnations in the game and were pulled in to be opponents for the PC, something which bugged me quite a bit. Despite still being rather unclear on the guy, I had fun playing Richard III and pictured him as one to spam the Royal We whenever he could.

**A/N 2**: The letters were in the original transcript and were basically our method of glossing over the France segment of the Yorkist story mode. The fun descriptions will likely come up in the next chapter after the Jasper-Alaine duel. Maybe. XD

As always, Feedback is welcome!


	14. Character Roster: Rose Crusaders

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I don't own Christian Rosenkreuz either (he was a real person, once). The only thing I own here is my OC, Mokuba's Medieval incarnation, and concepts/ideas shown in this story.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: N/A  
Location: Skype**

**A/N**: Felt like making a Roster of the Rose Crusaders.

* * *

Name: Hugo Underwood  
In-game location: Chester  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Insect  
Incarnation of: Weevil Underwood

Name: Jean Raptor  
In-game location: Tewkesbury  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Dinosaur  
Incarnation of: Rex Raptor

Name: Keith Howard  
In-game location: Towton  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Machine  
Incarnation of: Bandit Keith

Name: Aleixo Jobim  
DotR identity: Darkness Ruler  
In-game location: St. Albans  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Fiend  
Incarnation of: Panik

Name: Alessandro da Firenze  
DotR identity: Necromancer  
In-game location: Exeter  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Zombie  
Incarnation of: Bonez

Name: Alejandro de la Torre  
DotR identity: Labyrinth Ruler  
In-game location: Newcastle  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Labyrinth  
Incarnation of: Paradox Brothers (?)

Name: Hilde Beillschmidt  
DotR identity: Ishtar  
In-game location: Isle of Man  
Occupation: Mercenary  
Title: Rose Crusader  
Summon Type: Water  
Incarnation of: Ishizu Ishtar


	15. Le Mans (The Sixth Rose)

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I do not own the historical personages that appear in this fic. I do own some characters or character concepts for others.

**A/N**: This scene turned out more difficult to write than I expected, in large part due to lacking experience in writing Human-Eldritch Abomination interactions. Many apologies for the delay.

* * *

When Alaine meets Jasper 'Dice' Tudor, she instantly perceives that he is cut of the same cloth as Margaret Beaufort: someone better suited to playing advisor or some other important role yet still more than capable of proving themselves the power behind the throne. The undercurrent of danger that emanates from him is also a touch more prevalent and the Rose Duelist realizes she must watch herself around this one.

Unlike Margaret, he does not impose special conditions on her, instead insisting they fight it out as with any other Duel. The arrangement suits her just fine and they quickly take their places even as concealed monsters lie in wait within their shadows. Alaine is the first to seize the initiative, unsheathing her sword to meet his mace while a Flame Swordsman surges out of her shadow to meet his Rude Kaiser.

Knowing him, he would likely aim to wear her down then strike when she can barely keep up. The Rose Duelist makes it a point to pace herself, quickly moving to have her monster dodge the attack of his even as she countered his attack and shoved him back before chasing after him. For a while, the duel drags on, falling into the pattern of attack, counter, and repeat.

Likewise, it's the same with their monsters, occasionally spiced up by the demise of one or the other, their deaths reflected in the thin rivulets of blood that inexplicably mar the flesh of their respective masters. This in addition to injuries both Duelists have already inflicted on each other; her stigmata aren't counted among her injuries because she's been carrying that ever since she made her choice.

_He's good._ She thinks, noting Jasper's skill at combat despite his advanced age even as she barely dodges the mace slamming into her unprotected side. Shifting to adjust her defense, the Rose Duelist is aware of three unknown face downs lying in wait. Because of Jasper's Duelist Aura, Alaine is unable to determine whether they are spells or monsters. _But I know what can fix that…_

"_Dark Light_!"

A blinding flash lights up the entire room, causing both Alaine and Jasper to shield their eyes momentarily before looking up again as his face down spells and summons are revealed. The first is a simple Fissure spell but the second two…

"Don't look at them directly!" Jasper cries out but his warning comes too late, and Alaine's reality has shattered around her.

She is plummeting into darkness, one so pitch and dark it almost feels solid. She attempts to grab hold of something, anything, to halt the descent but purchase simply slips away from her grasp. As she falls, Alaine turns her head down, to try and look towards where or what she's falling to in this void. It is too late when she realizes, to her horror that it is staring _back_.

Despite that she's an enemy, Jasper can't help but worry for the young woman as a cry of absolute horror and incomprehension leaves Alaine's lips. However, the duel is still going on.

First, she sees the whole of Time stretched out before her: an ocean of limitless possibilities and lifetimes. Quite a few times she catches glimpses of people that might be her but not quite: certainly they aren't people she recognizes. Another thing she sees is that her designated enemy will win, but his family and bloodline will only retain the object of their desires for three generations. The Rose Duelist figures she should _probably_ remember that but the moment that thought forms she can feel her consciousness start to burn away with agony and it is almost too much before the perspective switches again.

Next, it is Existence that is presented to her and by now Alaine can _feel_ herself dying: she's not sure what else to call that sensation of literally and figuratively being slowly burned away to nothing. Of all that is shown, she only perceives one truth: Though everyone may eventually die, their souls will come back, in some form or another. There is more but it is all she can bear to learn as she tries her best to pull away and figure out how to get away from the void and whatever lurks within it.

It is quite in the realm of probability that _something_ does lurk within…but it is also possible that the _something_ is none other than the Void itself. The last idea is enough to send her into an incomprehensible frightened mess for a few moments but all of a sudden, everything clicks into place and she realizes what she has to do, even though it agonizes her to even _conceive_ the notion.

The older noble's eyes widen as he watches Alaine's gray eyes slowly dim, losing their spark. Before he even forms the notion of giving her up for dead and looting the cards from her standing corpse however, her body springs into action and the monster she summoned surges forward to destroy the Forbidden One's left arm while a new one decimates the corresponding leg. _For all intents and purposes, her mind and soul are destroyed!_ He thinks, barely countering her flurry of attacks. _So how on earth is—_

Oh. Now Jasper sees it.

The solution is simple to an alarming degree but it really is the best course of action for anyone to take in this situation. Right now, his opponent operates solely on instinct and intuition as she duels him and it's earned her some begrudging admiration from his part.

_There is only one possible outcome now,_ Jasper thinks as a Kaiser Dragon surges out of Alaine's shadow and rears up before him. _But I will continue to make my stand._

* * *

**A/N 1**: At some point or another I hit upon the idea that facing Exodia the Forbidden One was equivalent to facing down Cthulhu or one of the Old Ones from Lovecraftian mythos: you either die in a spectacular fashion or go insane if you survive the encounter. Either way, you don't come out unscathed.

**Jasper 'Dice' Tudor**: Solomon's incarnation in this time period and brother to Edmund Tudor, Henry VII's father. Of course, that means he's Henry's uncle in this time period which I find rather sweet how they're still family even if not in the same way as the present day incarnations.

As always, feedback is welcome!


	16. The Letter Before The Last Two Roses

******Disclaimer**: I don't own Yugioh. For that matter I do not own the historical personages that appear in this fic. I do own some characters or character concepts for others.

**RP: Duelists of the Roses**  
**Fandom: Yugioh**  
**Roleplayers: ValarSpawn, JW%  
Characters in this segment: Christian Rosenkreuz, Hans Rosenkreuz, Rose Duelist/PC  
Location: Skype**

**A/N**: Sorry to say it but this will be the last update in a while. As it is a reboot and it's remained relatively unchanged, JW% and I are taking a short break from it, in addition to me being busy with life and other things. For those enjoying the story, thanks for taking the trouble to read it.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Bosworth, Christian and his Crusaders are hard at work making preparations for the battle to come. Eventually, Hilde decided she had enough of the king's attentions and had taken up Christian on his offer of reassignment. It isn't until near evening that he returns to his tent to find Hans and the Petit Dragon playing again.

Christian sighed, "Hans! Hilde is going to be leaving for the north soon, and that leaves our planning staff a little short. Do you think you can lend your height? And do stop that."

"I can do that. And stop making jokes about my height, _bruder_!" He said as he handed him the new letter.

Christian took the letter. "No." Christian smiled and ruffled his brother's hair.

Hans' eyes narrowed as Christian messed up his hair but the look didn't reach his grin and he ran out, followed by the Petit Dragon, leaving Christian alone to his own devices.

Christian wondered if he was pushing his brother too hard... or treating him too young. Normally the mouth was easier to shift the expression of, the eyes were the true windows into which you saw the soul. He sat down to read the letter while there was still light.

_"I had to wait a few hours before writing this, mostly because the first few drafts were both comprehensible and yet not. The rumors are true, Christian: Jasper Tudor controls the Forbidden One. By extension, all the rumors concerning It are also true: to gaze upon even one component of its body is to invite madness and knowledge beyond our ken. For good or bad I happened to gaze upon two components: its left arm and the head when they were revealed by my Dark Light spell. I saw Time. I saw Existence. I peered into the Void and It was watching me."_

Even without taking her words into account, there are little signs that something has deeply disturbed her: her writing isn't steady, as though she had been writing with a trembling hand. The style of writing is also different, as Alaine at some point decided to forego her usual cursive writing.

Christian's eyes grew wide at the revelation and read on, worried for what he would learn.

_"I still do not know how I pulled through. I suspect at one point my mind simply wiped itself clean of all thought in order to survive. I did not think, relying only on intuition and instinct to duel. It was an uncanny experience to duel in such a way, relying only on my natural instincts and intuition, along with trusting that my summons would do as I expected. Some would say I have something to brag about, facing down components of the Forbidden One and surviving the experience. Personally, I think there's nothing to brag about, considering I only survived because I stopped thinking."_

Here the letter broke off into an abrupt line, as though Alaine realized she was still too unsettled to continue and had to take a momentary break.

Christian wondered how long she had taken to compose herself, as such would bring a large change in mood.

Eventually, the letter picked up again, and this time her tone seemed more composed that it had been initially.

_"I ended up asking for some wine and it's helped to calm my nerves. I dislike the notion that it got to that point but at least I can proceed. You mentioned you were curious about my ideas. Well, one was teasing you with my foot but I don't care for trying it out until I'm free of this curse. I know the curse won't react to your flesh, it's just a personal preference on my part."_

Christian considered this prospect, and had to admit to himself that for some reason, which he didn't fully understand, he very strongly looked forward to it. Probably more the freeing her from the curse than being teased, though he wondered what she meant by teasing. Then again, his mind sort of put both together, and he would feel extremely relieved when she no longer bled from divine blades on her feet.

_"Another idea was being tied up. Admittedly, I have to pin the inspiration for this one on the dreams. Personally, I do not know if I myself would enjoy it but...it looked as if the pleasure was mutual and both parties were aware of what they were doing and trusted one another. In that sense, I believe, I would consent to trying it out."_

After this, there was a sketch, portraying a young woman shackled to a wall even as the man facing her teased her with his hands and lips. Both wore Hellenic-style clothes, though the woman was currently half-dressed, her chest bared to the world. From the position of her lover's right hand, however, Christian could tell the rest would not be long in following the top.

Christian looked over the image with some enjoyment, noting that the woman looked at least somewhat like Alaine. The thought of tying her up seemed rather attractive in his mind, envisioning what he could do to her helpless body with his hands and lips. The Hellenic style clothing drew his interest for a moment, but he dismissed it to think more on Alaine and himself attempting such experiments.

_"Another dream-inspired one but from the looks of it some forethought is required, otherwise this just becomes a mess. That said, I am still intrigued by the notion of playing with your food in such a manner."_

The next sketch featured another couple: from their style of dress, Christian had to guess they were from the Roman Era, given how the man, who looked somewhat like himself with longer hair, was wearing the lower half of a Legionnaire's uniform. The woman on the other hand, was dressed not unlike a Visigoth warrior and was currently preoccupied with teasing the man as she carefully licked off what seemed to be honey from his chest. That said, after a second glance, he saw that she didn't entirely have the upper hand: One of the man's hands had slipped in between her legs, probably in an attempt to distract her so he could throw her down.

Christian considered this exchange, wondering if it was indeed honey, or something else. Hard to tell from just a sketch. And then he considered that if he were in that same position... would he actually throw his warrior woman down, or would he see how far she could take him. He glanced around, making sure that he was still alone, realizing that his memories of Alaine were starting to arouse him.

_"So there's a few ideas as to what we could do next time. As always, I hope you are doing well and look forward to your response._

_Sincerely, Alaine"_

Christian almost immediately took up quill and parchment... but then decided that he probably needed rest before sending a letter, and time to consider his response rather than bowing to the heat of passion. He would send the letter the next day, when there was ample time to write in the light. Until then, he hid the letter, and the sketches, safely away.

* * *

**A/N**: Fridge Brilliance regarding the letters. Spies can't find anything useful to tell their boss when it's mostly smutty descriptions.


End file.
